Jessica and Horatio
by daxy
Summary: After an accident Horatio meets Jessica and falls in love. It seems like they are meant to be together and they go through both good and bad moments together.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I decided to keep Alexx as an ME, because she will always be my favorite. **

It had been raining since early morning until lunch and then the sun had been out for an hour, before the rain had started again. Everyone on the team had been late that morning both because of the traffic and the rain. Stetler had showed up at the lab and argued with Horatio about coming in late. When Horatio had pointed out that Rick himself had been two hours late, the IAB Lt. had left in hurry with a red face.

Now Horatio was sitting in his office, trying to ignore the fact that Valentine's Day was tomorrow. Like so many years earlier he had no one to celebrate it with. Last year Kyle had shyly given both his parents a rose on that day, but this year he was in the military and wouldn't be home. Horatio looked at the photo on his desk, it was of Kyle and himself, taken just before Kyle left for the army. Father and son had come a long way since they've met and they were close now. Julia was taking her medication and actually dating a nice guy that was able to bring her down to earth and make her relax. Horatio and Julia didn't talk very much, but unlike before, when they had to talk it was much easier and nicer now.

"Are you hiding in here?" Alexx asked from the doorway.

"No, what makes you think that?" Horatio smiled.

"You've been here since lunch."

"My paperwork needs to be taken care of."

"Well, I don't see any paperwork on your desk."

"That's because I finished it." Horatio smiled, he knew exactly why Alexx was in his office.

Like the rest of the team, they worried about him. Especially on family holidays or romantic occasions.

"I'm fine Alexx." Horatio sighed.

Alexx sat down on the chair across the desk. It was no secret that Horatio wanted to have a family of his own, a wife and children. He had spent so many special occasions alone. Although, in recent years he had always had dinner with Alexx and her family on holidays like: Christmas or Thanksgiving.

"It hurts a little to see all the happy couples huh?" Alexx asked.

"A bit, yes."

Horatio wanted to be one of those guys that could give a rose to someone he loved and show just how much he loves that person.

"Well, guess what? I know what can take your mind off things for a few hours." Alexx smiled, "All of us are having dinner and Jenny's at six and you better be there mister!"

Horatio chuckled and nodded, "I'll be there. I promise."

"Good." Alexx smiled and then left her friend alone.

Horatio decided to stop hiding after a few minutes and went to check on his lab. He chuckled when Calleigh happily tackled Eric to the ground as he gave her twenty roses.

"Be careful not to hurt each other." Horatio laughed as he passed the happy couple.

They had finally come out officially as a couple and everyone were happy for them.

"How is it going?" Horatio asked as he joined Walter and Ryan in one of the labs.

The boys were processing a shirt for GSR.

"Bad, we got nothing. Not only do we have two unsolved cases at the moment, but I didn't even get a rose for Valentine's Day." Ryan sighed.

"It's not until tomorrow." Walter reminded.

"But everybody else is getting roses today."

"That's because they start early." Walter said, "If you want a rose so badly I'll give one to you."

"Um, no thanks. I can managed without one." Ryan said.

"Scared of getting a rose from a man Wolfe?" Horatio teased.

"Not at all." Ryan said.

"Great! here is one." Jesse said as he entered the lab.

Horatio and Jesse grinned as Ryan took the rose and looked down at his feet.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"Was that so hard?" Jesse asked.

"It's supposed to come from someone who loves you." Ryan said.

"I love you like a friend or annoying little brother." Jesse smirked, "Here's one for you as well H."

Horatio chuckled and thanked Jesse for the rose. Jesse then continued to give a rose to Walter and then left to see Valera.

"Does he always do that?" Walter asked Horatio, since they had known each other for a long time.

"Every year he gives a rose to those who hasn't gotten one." Horatio nodded, "It's actually a very sweet gesture."

**-I-**

Horatio muttered to himself as he drove towards Jenny's. It was still raining and he was ten minutes late already. Horatio couldn't see very far ahead of him and needed to drive slow.

"Oh come on, no more red lights." He sighed heavily and watched as the traffic light went red.

At green he kept on driving. Barely any other cars were on the streets at the moment. When Horatio stopped at another traffic light he was hit on the side by another car. Horatio remembered the lights from the other car and then he blacked out. The driver in the other car however, gasped as she saw the hummer and opened the door. Some passersby called 911 and helped the woman as she tried to wake Horatio up.

"Um, sir, please wake up." The woman said, "Hello?"

"It's Lt. Caine from MDPD." A man said, "He's unconscious."

"Oh shit, um, I didn't mean to hit him."

"Hey now, it's okay. Don't worry, he just bumped his head."

An ambulance soon arrived and took both Horatio and the woman to the hospital. When Horatio was being examined, a nurse called his emergency contact which was Alexx. The team was quickly in the hospital and waiting for any news on their boss.

"How long can it take to find out how a person is doing?" Frank growled at the nurse's station, "We've been here for more than an hour!"

"Frank! stop yelling at the poor nurse." Alexx scolded, "Get over here and sit down."

Frank apologized and sat down next to Alexx. She glared at him and he bowed his head.

"I wonder what H is like when he's injured." Ryan said.

"He's pissed." Jesse, Frank and Alexx said on the same time.

"A long time ago he was pushed down some stairs by a suspect in a case and bumped his head. He managed to scare the nurses and his doctor when he refused to stay in the hospital overnight." Jesse said, "He was growling about stupid suspects and how he hated hospitals and being poked around. You know how he is when he gets really pissed."

"Yeah, he's scary." Eric chuckled.

"Exactly. I don't know how many death glares he gave me when I tried to lighten the mood or how many times he said he'd shoot Frank if he didn't stop laughing at him." Jesse laughed.

"Are you here for Lt. Caine?" A young doctor asked.

"We are." Alexx nodded.

"Lt. Caine is quite alright, but we would like to keep him overnight just in case. He has a concussion, but other than that, he's fine." The doctor said, "He is awake and grumpy, said something about not letting Jesse Cardoza and Frank Tripp inside the room."

Frank and Jesse chuckled, Horatio didn't want what happened 13 years ago to be repeated.

"He's just being silly." Alexx smiled, "Which room is he in?"

"Number 245."

"Thank you." Alexx said and lead the team to the right room.

Frank tried to contain his laughter as he saw Horatio sitting in a hospital gown.

"Isn't this the same room as 13 years ago?" Jesse asked.

"Yes." Horatio sighed, "Frank, what is so funny about seeing me in a hospital gown?"

"It's a gown!" Frank burst out laughing.

"Sometimes I wonder if you really are a grown man." Walter teased.

"I think they reserved this room for you." Jesse teased, "They knew you'd be back."

"Do you know who hit me?" Horatio asked, changing the subject.

"A woman named Jessica Stanley." Ryan said, "She was terrified that she had killed you. She didn't see your car because of the rain or that she had a red light."

"Does she know I'm okay now?" Horatio asked.

"I hope so or she'll never stop worrying." Alexx said.

The team stayed for a few more minutes before they noticed that Horatio was getting tired. Horatio fell asleep and didn't wake up until midnight. He was surprised to see a blonde woman standing by the bedside table with a note in her hands.

"Um, sorry I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just going to leave a note." She said.

"You didn't wake me up. Um, are you Jessica?"

"Yes sir, I'm the one who caused you to end up here." Jessica said sadly and looked down at her feet.

Jessica normally wasn't shy, but something about the man in front of her made her shy and she felt like a little school girl.

"It was an accident." Horatio smiled.

"I still want to apologize, sir." Jessica said, "That's what I wrote on the note."

"You don't need to. And you can call me Horatio."

"Only if you call me Jessica. Well then, um… I should leave." Jessica blushed and turned to leave.

"Wait… um, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I got a cracked rib, but I'm fine." Jessica smiled and left.

Horatio smiled to himself. He liked her. But he would probably never see her again. What neither Jessica nor Horatio knew was that they would see each other again very soon.

_**AN: Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

A week had passed since the accident and Horatio couldn't stop thinking about Jessica Stanley. She had swept him off his feet. There was something about her that just dragged him to her. Horatio sighed as he looked out the porch window of his beach house. He had wanted to share this house with someone for a long time, since Marisol's death to be exact. Something inside Horatio told him that he shouldn't think about Jessica, because it was a betrayal to Marisol. He worried about what Marisol's family would say, they were a part of his family as well. Especially Eric.

Horatio decided to not think about the girl he could never have and the wife he had lost. Instead he went to the kitchen and took a look in the fridge. Nothing was in it.

"Horatio, you have to start buying more food." He said to himself.

Since he was hungry and he had nothing to cook, he had to go shopping. Horatio hated grocery shopping, because it was only for himself. Usually he loved to cook too, but he wanted to cook for more than just himself.

It didn't take long to reach the supermarket that was closest to Horatio's home. He walked lazily to the entrance and grabbed a basket. The first thing he decided to pick up was bread, although he rarely ate breakfast, he needed it at home just in case.

It was when Horatio reached the diary products that he bumped in to a familiar person.

"Sorry sir." The woman said.

"Jessica?"

Jessica turned around to face Horatio and chuckled lightly. She had never imagined she would bump in to him ever again. She had dreamed about him for a week now.

"Lt. Caine, nice to see you again! How are you? How is the hummer? I hope I didn't get you in trouble at the department, because if I did, then…"

"No, no, you didn't. It was an accident remember?" Horatio smiled, Jessica was cute when she was rambling.

Jessica blushed and mentally smacked herself for rambling like a fool.

"I am fine, the hummer is fine." Horatio answered her questions, "And it's nice to see you again as well. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, sir."

"Horatio. You can call me Horatio rember?"

"Horatio. Nice name, but unusual." Jessica smiled, "Did your parents name you that for a specific reason?"

"My mother named me after her favorite author, Horatio Alger."

"Oh he is a good author!" Jessica exclaimed and then blushed again.

Horatio was surprised to know that she had read his books. Horatio had done so himself, but never met anyone else who had.

"You're the first person, besides my mother that is, who have read his books." Horatio smiled.

"It's a shame not more people read his work." Jessica said, "Well, I shouldn't keep you from your shopping, sir… I mean Horatio, it was nice seeing you again."

Jessica quickly left and Horatio got no chance to say goodbye. He laughed softly as he watched her hurry down the aisle with a red face. He felt like a teenager and it could only mean one thing… he was falling for the young blonde woman with blue eyes. He felt safe looking in to her eyes and it wasn't something many people could make him feel.

Horatio sighed and quickly bought all that he needed before heading to the cash desks. He could see her in another line, she had way too many bags for only person to carry. Jessica was out of the store before Horatio had even paid for his things.

He didn't know why, but he felt rejected. She had been in such a hurry to leave. Maybe she had a husband waiting for her at home, although he hadn't seen her wearing a ring. When Horatio walked towards his hummer across the parking lot, he heard someone curse and looked to his right. He saw Jessica trying to pick up food that had fallen out of a broken bag.

"Need help?" Horatio asked as he came to stand by her.

"I can manage this myself, I'm a grown woman." Jessica said rather firmly, without looking to see who had offered help.

When she stood up with the groceries in her arms, she almost dropped them when she saw who was standing next to her. She blushed furiously.

"Sorry Horatio, I um, just got a little angry at myself."

"It's okay, you're right. You are a grown woman." Horatio smiled.

"Doesn't mean it's wrong to accept help." "Jessica grinned widely.

Her heart skipped a beat every time the red head smiled.

"You can open the trunk if you want." She smiled.

Horatio nodded and put his two bags down on the ground, he opened the drunk and helped Jessica organize everything inside. She had six bags of food and only five of them were still whole.

"Well, thank you for your help." Jessica smiled and slowly walked to the driver's side door. She looked down at her hands and noticed her flat tire.

"Shit!" She cursed and then winced, she had just cursed in front of the man that made her act so giddy. She knew she was falling for him.

"What is it?" Horatio asked.

"I got a flat tire." Jessica sighed, "This is not my day. First I run out of shampoo while I'm still in the shower, then I burn my dinner, then I get here and the shopping bag breaks. Now I got a flat tire." Jessica whined, "And I'm not sure why I'm telling you about my problems today."

"It's okay. Maybe I can give you a ride home?" Horatio suggested.

Normally Jessica wouldn't accept, but the red head was a cop after all and her brain refused to let her mouth say the word no.

"Really? It would be so nice." Jessica grinned.

"Absolutely. I can't leave you here by yourself, it's getting dark too." Horatio smiled widely.

He could not believe that he was going to see where she lived! He hadn't expected her to accept his offer.

"My hummer is right over there." Horatio said and pointed at the big car.

"You got a new hummer?"

"Yeah, until the old one is completely fixed." Horatio said, "So, I'm going to drive it here and we'll pack your things inside it."

Jessica nodded and as she watched Horatio leave, she blushed again when she noticed she was looking at his ass.

"Get yourself together, he's just giving you a lift home." Jessica muttered to herself, "Like a gentlemen."

**-I-**

The drive to Jessica's home was quiet at first, until Jessica called a tow truck company and told them where her car was. After the call she thanked Horatio again for the lift.

"It's not a problem Jessica." Horatio smiled.

"Isn't this far away from your home?"

"Not very much, just about ten minutes longer drive." Horatio said.

"So you're a cop?" Jessica asked, she wanted to know who the man beside her was, what his personality was like. Other than what she had seen so far.

"CSI actually." Horatio said.

"Really? That's a tough job isn't it?"

"It can be from time to time, but it's rewarding as well. To help put bad guys behind bars." Horatio said, "What do you work as?"

"I'm a coach for a figure skating team." Jessica smiled.

"Then I guess you can do figuring skating as well?"

"Yeah, I've been doing it since I was seven."

"Have you ever competed?"

"Lots of times in small competitions." Jessica said, "I like coaching more than competing myself. I guess I just have that kind of personality that goes well with coaching others."

"I bet you do." Horatio smiled and chuckled when Jessica blushed.

When they reached Jessica's apartment, they both sighed heavily. None of them wanted to part ways yet.

"Um, home sweet home." Jessica chuckled nervously.

"Um, would you like to… um, maybe some night go you with me?" Horatio asked, he was so nervous to ask women out.

Jessica was stunned at first, she hadn't thought he had felt a connection between in the way she had.

"Um, yeah absolutely!" She grinned, "When?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Great, at seven?"

"Seven it is. If I don't get any calls to work that is." Horatio said and hoped Jessica wouldn't have a problem with his kind of work.

"Sure. My dad was a cop too in Orlando, so I know how hard it can be sometimes and how much you have to work overtime from time to time." Jessica smiled, "Tomorrow at seven it is."

"Yeah, oh let me help you with your things." Horatio said.

He helped Jessica carry her groceries inside her apartment and then they parted ways. As he drove back to his house, Horatio couldn't wipe the smile of his face. He had a date!

_**AN: Please review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I decided to make Horatio a little younger in this story than he is on the show. **

Horatio sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. What had he gotten himself in to? He was 45 years old and Jessica was at least 10 years younger than him. Why would she want to go out with an old man like him? Would she run when she found out he was widower? Would he run if things got to serious? Suddenly he wasn't so sure of himself.

He had been standing in his bathroom for the last thirty minutes, just looking at himself. He was a man who had been hurt many times and who believe that he wasn't really meant to be truly happy. Yet he didn't want to cancel his date with Jessica. She intrigued him.

_Should I wear a tie? Or is that too formal?_ He suddenly found himself thinking. He never wore a tie to work, but work was work after all. Tonight he had a date. He hadn't told anybody about Jessica yet, he wanted it to remain a private matter for now until he knew if it would lead anywhere.

_Maybe I should just call Alexx and innocently ask her if a tie is good for a date… nah, she'll start asking questions._

Horatio sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then he muttered incoherent words as he combed it to the way it should be. He was wearing a suit, but not one he would wore to work. The suit he was wearing was more expensive and unique.

_Forget about the tie._ He decided.

It was an hour left before he had to be outside Jessica's apartment to pick her up. One hour and he had no idea what to do in that time. He was dressed, he smelled good, he was shaved and now he was starting to become restless.

**-I-**

Jessica wasn't restless like Horatio, in fact she was running around her apartment like a maniac looking for the right dress or skirt.

_Maybe I should wear pants? Nah, a dress will make me look sexier. Oh god, this isn't a date with sex after! What if this date is a waste of time?_ Jessica thought as she rummaged through her closet, looking for her red favorite dress.

"Please do not tell me it's in the laundry basket!" Jessica groaned and dumped all her laundry over the floor.

She sighed in relief when the dress wasn't in the pile of clothes and instead she decided to check her chest of drawers, maybe she had placed it there.

"Finally!" She grinned when she found the dress.

Then she almost felt like crying when it had wrinkles everywhere.

_I do not have time for this!_ She thought and threw the dress away. She would just have to wear something else. She tried on a yellow dress and looked at herself in the mirror. She frowned. She looked good, but not good enough. She felt like she had to impress and stun the red head. Next she put on a light purple dress, but it wasn't the good enough either.

"I have too many clothes." She muttered and called her big brother Henry.

"Henry, answer me quick, dark red or light green?" Jessica asked, "I only have thirty minutes before he's here."

"Who?"

"Just answer the question."

"Um…"

"Today Henry!"

"Light green. Who is the guy?"

"Tell you later… maybe. Bye!" Jessica said and hung up.

She put on the green dress and smiled. Her brother was right. Light green was better for tonight. Next she had to put on some make-up, not very much, but a little. Her hands were shaking as she put on the mascara and she had to re-do it three times.

"Calm down girl, it's just a date with a man with a sexy ass. Oh god, there I go again. I should never have looked at his ass yesterday." Jessica sighed heavily, "Even if it is sexy."

_Get yourself together Blondie! Tonight look only in to his eyes!_ She screamed mentally at herself.

Jessica's heart sped up when she heard the doorbell ring and she glanced at the clock. It was time already! She ran to the door and stopped just before opening it.

"Horatio, hi!" She smiled as she opened the door and hoped he wouldn't notice how nervous she was or that she had ran towards the door.

"Hi Jessica, I um… brought you some flowers." Horatio blushed.

Frank and Jesse would laugh their butts off if they knew how much Jessica made him blush.

"Oh there beautiful!" Jessica exclaimed as she accepted the roses, "I love roses!"

"Really?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, I think it's a very romantic flower." Jessica winked and then smacked herself mentally.

_Jesus! He just gave you some flowers, calm down and put the flowers in a vase._

"I um, just going to put them in a vase." She grinned and almost skipped of joy towards the kitchen.

Horatio nodded and waited at the door. When Jessica came back he smiled and took her arm in his. They walked to Horatio's private car, he didn't want to use the hummer for a date.

"You own a Buick Skylark?" Jessica gasped as she saw the car.

"Yeah, from 1966." Horatio chuckled, "You like cars?"

"A little bit yeah, but a Buick from 1966 should almost be illegal to own. It's such a beauty!" Jessica grinned.

Horatio grinned back and opened the door for her. Frank and Jesse always said how jealous they were at Horatio for owning such a car.

"How long have you owned this car?" Jessica asked on the way to the restaurant by the ocean that they were going to eat at.

"Since 1993." Horatio smiled fondly, "I saw it and knew I had to buy it."

"Very good choice."

Horatio smiled at the blonde woman next to him. She just kept on surprising him. Jessica blushed. She knew that once she told her brother Henry about Horatio's car, he would freak out and demand to see him.

"My brother loves cars. He wants a Buick himself, but hasn't found one yet." Jessica said.

"Maybe if I meet him one day he can drive this one."

"He would love that! I think he would almost cry of joy." Jessica laughed.

Once the couple arrived at the restaurant they were lead to a table on the outside. Horatio pulled out Jessica's chair and then sat down himself.

"You are such a gentleman." She smiled.

"Well, I think every man should be." Horatio chuckled.

After they had ordered their food, they began to small talk about themselves. Jessica had moved to Orlando with her family, when she was seven, from Seattle. Then she moved to Miami to coach her figure skating team and she had fallen in love with city from the very beginning.

"Your family still lives in Orlando?" Horatio asked.

"Yep." Jessica smiled, "Your turn."

Horatio told her that he grew up in New York and then moved to Miami more than 12 years ago.

"I've never been to NY." Jessica said.

"It's a nice city, but Miami is home for me." Horatio said.

"Does your family still live up there?"

"Um, no. My brother and I both lived down here, but he passed away several years ago. I consider my team my family." Horatio said and gave he a small smile, "I also lost my wife five years ago."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to..."

"No need to worry, it's okay." Horatio smiled.

Once the food arrived, Horatio tried to innocently ask how old Jessica was.

"So um, how old is your brother?" Horatio asked.

"He's 39. But still a big baby sometimes." Jessica laughed, "Some people actually think I'm the responsible older sister."

"How many years is there between you?" Horatio blushed.

"You mean how old am I?" Jessica winked, "I'm 34."

Horatio blushed and Jessica chuckled and patter his hand gently, "And how old are you Lt.?"

"Um, 45." Horatio blushed.

Jessica shrugged, "You were expecting me to be scared off huh?"

"That thought did cross my mind."

"Well, I'm not. I don't care about age, love is love no matter how old you are." Jessica grinned.

_I did not just mention love did I?! Oh my god! He's going to think I'm one of those women that expects a wedding ring after the first date!_ Jessica thought.

"You're right it is." Horatio nodded.

_Oh man, I just made a complete fool of myself. Our first date and we're already on the subject of love._ Horatio growled mentally at himself.

Dinner went on fine, neither Jessica nor Horatio saw the slight panic in the other's eyes when they had mentioned love. After the dinner, Horatio suggested that the two of them take a walk on the beach. It was getting late and suddenly the green dress wasn't such a good choice of clothing. Jessica blushed when Horatio put his suit jacket over her shoulder.

"Thank you."

"Anytime." Horatio smiled, "Besides from cars and coaching figure skating, what else do you like to do?"

"I like to run early in the morning before work." Jessica said, "Read books and listen to rock music.

"I wouldn't have taken you for a rock girl." Horatio grinned.

"I love rock, especially Metallica and Queen." Jessica smiled, "How about you?"

"I like to run as well. I like to read and listen to rock." Horatio chuckled, "Seems like we have the same hobbies."

"Seems like it. Do you like dancing?"

"It depends on the dance."

"Street dance?"

Horatio laughed, "I've never tried it and I doubt I could do it."

"I tried it once, it was hard." Jessica laughed, "How about Salsa?"

"Yeah, that's more like it. I only know a little though." Horatio smiled.

"Me too! Salsa is kind of sexy." Jessica winked.

_Not again! First I check out his ass, then I wink at him. He must think I'm crazy! _Jessica thought and almost kicked herself.

"It is sexy yes." Horatio smiled.

After the walk on the beach it was time to end the date. Horatio drove Jessica home and followed her to her door. There he looked down at his feet and blushed.

"I liked our date. I um, was wondering if maybe you wanted to this again?" He smiled.

"Absolutely. We can switch phone numbers and call each other. I might be busy with a competition for the coming two days." Jessica grinned widely and gave Horatio his number.

Horatio gave her his number and chuckled nervously.

"Good night then Jessica." He smiled and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night Horatio." Jessica blushed and opened the door just as he turned around to go back to his car.

_I just checked out his ass again! _She exclaimed inside her head. When the door was closed she jumped up and down and congratulated herself for being a good girl and not scaring Horatio away.

Horatio resisted the urge to skip like a girl to his car.

_I cannot believe I got her number! I might actually have a chance with her!_

_**AN: Please review!**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Who is the girl?" Jesse asked.

"What girl?" Horatio asked back.

Jesse smirked. The whole week Horatio had smiled at certain phone calls and talked in a corner alone in the hallway or in his office. He had a twinkle in his eyes that could only mean one thing; he was in love. Horatio hadn't said anything about seeing a woman though.

"H don't give me that crap, I know you're in love and that you're seeing someone." Jesse grinned, "Is it the girl from the crash… Jessica um…"

"Stanley." Horatio said quickly and resisted the urge to smack himself.

Jesse smirked widely, "So it is her."

"Just because I know her last name does not mean I'm dating her."

Jesse grinned. Horatio had a good memory and never forgot a name, but the quick answer was a dead give-a-way.

"But are you seeing someone?" Jesse asked.

"Maybe."

"Man or woman?" Jesse chuckled.

"Woman."

Jesse patted Horatio on the shoulder and left the older man alone. Horatio shook his head at Jesse as he left. Alexx and Calleigh had also asked him who he was talking so secretively on the phone with. Horatio hadn't planned on introducing Jessica to his family yet, they had only known each for two weeks.

While Horatio worked in his office with paperwork, Jesse was organizing a poll in the lab.

"Alright, I bet 30 dollars that the woman he's seeing is Jessica Stanley." Jesse smiled.

"Who?" Walter asked.

"The girl who crashed her car in to H's." Ryan said.

"Nah, I think it's that sexy nurse H had in the hospital, her name was Marie." Walter smiled.

"No, she is not his type." Jesse said, "Ms. Stanley _is_."

"How come you know so much about his type of girl?" Walter asked.

"I've known him for a lot longer than you." Jesse grinned, "Any other takers on the bet?"

"20 dollars that it's an older woman." Calleigh smiled.

"I agree with Cal." Ryan said.

"Are you betting against your boss?" Alexx asked.

"Yes." Everyone replied.

"Oh what the heck, count me in. I agree with Jesse." Alexx chuckled.

The lab techs soon joined in and placed a bet, the only one left now was Frank. But before Jesse had a chance to talk to him, the team was called to a crime scene, although Frank was with them on the scene, Jesse didn't have time to talk to him about the bet.

"Ryan, let's print the porch door and see if the burglar entered that way." Horatio said.

Ryan nodded and walked away.

"Alexx, what can you tell me about the body?" Horatio asked.

"Well, he was stabbed to death about one hour ago." Alexx said and then nodded for her orderlies to put the body in the van.

Just as she left the crime scene, Horatio's phone rang. The team noticed the same smile as before and Horatio excused himself quickly. The conversation was short, since Horatio had a job to do. However, he had a hard time keeping the smile off his face after he hung up.

"Must have been a good phone call." Frank smirked.

"The best." Horatio smiled, "Um, anything from the guy who called it all in?"

Frank smirked wider at Horatio's attempt to change the subject. He always knew Horatio found it difficult to talk about his private life and he was a man that especially kept his love life very private. Whoever the woman was that he had met, she had certainly made the red head smile again and completely swept him off his feet.

**-I-**

Horatio was never the first one to leave when the shift ended, in fact he was always the last one. But now, he seemed to have an important date with the mystery woman because he was clocking out exactly when the clock stroke five and the shift was over.

"We have to follow him."Jesse said to Ryan.

"Isn't that kind of evil? If he wants us to know something he will tell us." Ryan said, he didn't want to be on H's bad side.

"Maybe we have an important date too." Jesse shrugged, "He's not going to see us. I just have to know who the mystery caller is."

"Are you plotting against H?" Frank asked from behind the boys and startled them.

"You can too." Ryan smiled.

"H is seeing someone. We have bet at who it might be." Jesse said.

"50 dollars says it's that blond girl he crashed in to." Frank smirked.

"_She_ crashed in to _him_." Ryan corrected.

"Thank you Mr. Wolfe for not letting me get away with a tiny mistake like that. Can I get an A now?" Frank teased with a girly voice.

"Whatever baldy, whatever." Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes.

Jesse, Ryan and Frank took the elevator down to the garage just as Horatio drove out with the hummer. They quickly jumped in to Frank's car, which was less noticeable than a hummer and followed Horatio. They kept a distance with one car between them and H at all times.

"Hello?" Ryan answered his phone, "Um, we're following H. It was Jesse's idea, Alexx! I'm just an innocent bystander."

"You're not innocent!" Jesse exclaimed.

Ryan gave the phone to Jesse and Jesse sighed as he had to get a lecture from Alexx about not doing anything stupid and how the boys should not follow their boss.

"We're just going to take a little peek." Jesse said, "Thanks Alexx. Bye."

Jesse grinned at his victory. Alexx had said that only a peek was allowed, but that they were still going to pretend as if they hadn't seen who Horatio was on a date with. The boys parked further down the street than Horatio outside a restaurant. Horatio went inside with a smile and the boys got out of the car.

"I hope he doesn't see us, because if he does we will kill us." Ryan gulped.

"No, he won't." Frank said.

The boys sneaked towards one of the windows and peeked inside, Jesse smirked and turned to Ryan.

"Told you it was Jessica Stanley!" He smirked.

"What?!" Ryan exclaimed and stood up to peek inside as well. He sighed.

"We just won a lot of money." Frank smirked, "Now let's leave H alone with his date."

Inside the restaurant, Horatio was telling Jessica about his team.

"And I know three of them followed me here." Horatio chuckled.

"And you didn't let them know that you know that?" Jessica asked.

"Nah, it's no big deal. Now, they'll have something to talk about. I'll probably tell them tomorrow though." Horatio smiled, "I can't wait to see the look on their faces!"

"So how is Kyle?" Jessica asked.

Horatio smiled, he always did when Jessica asked how Kyle was. This was their forth date and Horatio had told Jessica about Kyle and Julia on the second date. She had smiled and said that she had known he was a father already. Horatio had asked how she knew that and she had replied that he just had something about him that suggested that he had a child and that he seemed like a great father. She had even seen a picture of Kyle.

"He's good. Coming home in two months." Horatio smiled.

"You miss him huh?"

"Very much."

"I can tell. He seems like a great kid, can't wait to meet him. Does he know about us?" Jessica smiled.

"Yes and now he can't stop singing: _Jessica and Horatio sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g_." Horatio laughed.

"We could sit in a tree and kiss just to show him." Jessica winked.

Horatio leaned forward and gave Jessica a soft kiss on the lips. She blushed slightly, she was still getting used to kissing the very handsome man that had captured her heart.

"Still a little shy?" Horatio teased.

"You have a little blush yourself there Lt." Jessica grinned.

"I um, I like you a lot." Horatio blushed.

"I like you too." Jessica grinned and pulled Horatio in to a deep kiss.

Outside the restaurant Jesse had run back to peek just in time for Jessica to pull Horatio in to the kiss. He grinned widely and ran back to Frank and Ryan.

"They kissed!" He exclaimed.

"No way!" Ryan gasped.

"Yeah they did! H has finally found someone to be with again." Jesse smiled, "I think she's good for him."

"She sure seems to be." Frank said, "Now let's go home."

Inside the restaurant, Horatio hadn't seen Jesse's face in the window during the kiss. He had been too busy tasting Jessica's lips.

"Each kiss just keeps feeling better and better." Horatio smiled.

"I agree Lt. Your kisses should be illegal and it should be a severe punishment for whoever kisses you." Jessica grinned.

"Well then what kind of punishment do you want?" Horatio winked and squeezed Jessica's hand softly.

They were teasing each other, yet they were still shy. They were getting closer and closer everyday and they both knew that they had found their soul mate.

"How about a sleepover?" Jessica blushed.

"If that is what you want that it is what you will get." Horatio smiled.

Jessica and Horatio didn't arrive at Horatio's beach house until midnight. They held hands as they walked towards the front door. After dinner, they had taken a walk on the beach and then enjoyed ice cream in a park.

"I'm a little nervous." Jessica admitted as she stepped inside his house.

"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to." Horatio said, "I don't expect you to give me anything. We can sleep in separate beds if you want."

"No, I want to share your bed with you." Jessica blushed, "I just don't want to go any further. Yet."

Horatio nodded and gave Jessica a hug. He knew she was nervous that he would use her, but the thought of doing something like that had never even crossed his mind. Horatio showed Jessica around the house and then they went to his bedroom. They both had to be up early the next morning. Jessica sighed happily as she snuggled close to Horatio to sleep. She was happy that he was satisfied with only holding her and not going any further.

"Goodnight." She whispered.

"Goodnight, sweet dreams." Horatio said and gave her a kiss on the check.

**-I-**

Horatio and Jessica shared a soft kiss before going to their jobs. Horatio entered the lab with a smile and his first stop was to the break room, where his team and Frank were.

"Good morning everyone." He greeted.

"Good morning." Everyone replied.

"So, Jesse, Ryan and Frank, did you enjoy following me yesterday?" Horatio asked and smirked when Frank chocked on his coffee and both Jesse and Ryan blushed.

"Um…" Ryan started.

"It's okay. It's no big deal." Horatio smiled, "I am dating Jessica Stanley."

"Yeah! That means we just got 100 dollars!" Alexx exclaimed as she jumped up from her chair, "Jesse started a bet by the way."

"I thought so. It's okay. I um, I'm going to introduce you to Jessica someday, but for now, we um, want to be by ourselves." Horatio smiled.

"We didn't mean to intrude. We were just curious." Jesse apologized.

"I know, the truth is that I would have been very curious if it would have been one you dating someone as well."

"But you wouldn't have followed us." Ryan said.

"It's okay, really. It was kind of fun to know that you guys played spies for a while." Horatio chuckled.

"Well, I'm happy you met this girl." Jesse smiled, "She brought back the old H."

"The old H?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, the one who smiles more and laughs." Frank said.

Horatio blushed and nodded, he knew he had been distant and sad since Marisol's death. Kyle had lifted his spirit, but when he went in to the army, Horatio had gone back to being sad again.

"I'm glad I met her too." Horatio smiled, "We don't have time to talk about my love life though, we have work do."

The team smiled and nodded, they knew that Horatio wouldn't tell them anymore about his date for now. They were just happy that his smile was back and that his eyes were full of love and life.

_**Please review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Inspired from the review by **_**Roots4Miami. **_**(From chapter 4)**

**-I-**

The team hadn't asked Horatio any more questions about Jessica other than how things were going for them. Two weeks had gone by and Horatio and Jessica was officially a couple. Horatio was beginning to get nervous though, because he would join Jessica and her family for dinner in Orlando in four days. Horatio was currently resting in his office, leaning back in the chair with his feet on the desk. The day had been slow and he was day dreaming about his beautiful blond girlfriend.

"If you can do that then I should be able to as well." Jesse smiled from the doorway.

Horatio sat up right and cleared his throat, "Is there a reason you came here to check on me?"

"Besides to remind you that you've been day dreaming for thirty minutes? Yes, there's a body at Miami Ice Arena." Jesse said.

This got Horatio's attention and Jesse smirked as he noticed it.

"That's where Jessica works." Horatio said.

"She's the one who called it in." Jesse said, "She's a bit shook up. Probably missing her boyfriend."

Horatio rolled his eyes at Jesse. Even if the team didn't push him to tell them more about Jessica or even to met her, it didn't mean that they didn't tease him every now and then.

"Let's go then." Horatio said.

He, Jesse and Ryan went to the arena and walked towards Frank who had been the first one on the scene.

"Hi guys, Ms. Stanley over there called it in." Frank said, "The victim is Bob Carter, he's a coach for a figure skating team."

Horatio looked over at Jessica and gave her a small smile.

"What else?" He asked.

"Nobody saw or heard anything. Ms. Stanley was coaching her team for a coming competition in a few months. Alexx isn't here yet." Frank said, "And Ms. Stanley asked for you, H."

Horatio nodded and walked over to Jessica. She sighed as he took her in to his arms and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. Jesse and Ryan started processing the scene and smirked at each other when Horatio kissed Jessica softly again.

"I'm sorry you had to see his body." He whispered, "It's not a nice sight."

"I don't think I will ever understand how you can do it." Jessica sighed, "I'm going to be okay."

"Ryan Wolfe over there, is going to take your prints so we can rule you out." Horatio said, "Is this Mr. Carter's office?"

"Both of ours." Jessica said, "My prints will be all over this place."

"Which is why we have to take them." Horatio said and called for Ryan to come, "I can't question you or take your prints because it will be a conflict of interest."

"It's okay, I trust your team." Jessica smiled and shook hands with Ryan.

Horatio left while Ryan took Jessica's prints. It was harder than he had thought it would be to stand by the side and not be allowed to do anything. When Ryan was done, Jessica had to give her statement to an officer again.

"Anything Jesse?" Horatio asked.

"I think he knew his killer." Jesse said, "There is sign of a struggle, but the door hasn't been forced open."

"Ms. Stanley." Horatio called, being professional, "What was Bob like?"

"Um, stubborn. He hated to be proven wrong. Not many people liked him." Jessica said, "I knew him better thoug, he was a nice man sometimes. He just hated the seasons when he had to coach extra hard for coming competitions."

"Thank you." Horatio said.

He watched Jessica leave and Alexx arrive. Alexx gave Jessica a small smile as they passed each other and then knelt down next to the body.

"He's got strangulation marks around his neck." She said, "Are you okay Horatio?"

"I'm fine."

Alexx nodded, "COD is less than an hour ago."

"H, there are no surveillance cameras inside the office, but it is in the hallway." Ryan said.

"Let's take a look at the tapes." Horatio said.

Horatio managed to focus on the case, but it was a struggle.

**-I-**

Horatio was standing in front of the man responsible for the murder of Bob Carter. Horatio had faced many murderers in his career, but this one shook him up. The man named Clay Harris had confessed to his crime. And it was a sad crime. Bob had walked in on a robbery and tried to tackle Clay, instead he had been strangled to death. But what really made Horatio feel uneasy was the fact that Clay also had a previous conviction for attempted rape. The victim? A young blonde woman, not much younger than Jessica.

On the surveillance tapes, Horatio had watched how Jessica had passed the office just seconds after Clay had entered it. Jessica had been about to open the door, when her team had called her name. It scared Horatio to think about how close he had come to losing the woman that he loved. The woman he had opened his heart too and who had opened her heart to him. Poor Bob had just taken a quick tour to the bathroom and forgotten to lock the door to the office. And when he came back he was murdered.

Bob had been a big and strong man and even he had no chance against Clay. Jessica would have been even more powerless. Horatio shook his head as Clay started crying. He nodded for an officer to take him away. He had come so close to being alone again.

"H, what are you still doing here?" Calleigh asked as she found her boss in his office.

"The shift is not over until another hour." Horatio sighed.

"Today was a tough day for you and Jessica. I think you should be with her." Calleigh said.

She had been with Horatio during the interrogation with Clay and seen the look in his eyes when the truth had come out. Horatio deserved to be happy. Since Marisol's death, everyone had kind of taken Horatio under their wings and silently looked out for him. They wouldn't let him be unhappy again.

"You're right. I should be with Jessica." Horatio nodded and stood up to leave.

"Are you okay?" Calleigh asked.

"I will be." Horatio smiled.

Horatio said goodbye and left. It felt strange to leave work early. He wasn't used to it. Horatio drove the hummer to Jessica's apartment and opened with a key she had given him. Jessica also had a key to his house.

"Jessica?" He asked.

Horatio went further inside the apartment and smiled when he reached the living room and saw Jessica asleep on the couch. He gently knelt down by her head and kissed her cheek.

"Hi." Jessica smiled and she opened her eyes, "Did you catch the killer?"

"We did." Horatio nodded and told Jessica about Clay Harris.

Her eyes widened as she realized how close she had come to dying. She was happy to be alive, but it felt awful that Bob had lost his life. Jessica hugged Horatio when she saw the fear in his eyes. She knew he found it difficult to talk about his feelings, but he did a good job at opening up to her. Horatio, knew that he could trust her with his feelings. He loved that he could give his heart to her and know that she wouldn't crush it.

"It's okay now. You and your team got him." Jessica said.

"But it's hard to think about how close I came to losing you."

"I know." Jessica said, "But I'm still here and you still have me."

Horatio smiled and gave her a deep kiss. Jessica hugged him for a long time.

"I'm sorry I abandoned you at the scene. I should have come here earlier." Horatio sighed.

"You have a job to do Horatio. I wanted you to be there when Bob's killer was caught." Jessica said, "And truthfully, I needed some time alone to think. Without any officers asking questions or friends and family making sure I wasn't about to have a nervous breakdown."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. And while I was thinking, I came to a conclusion." Jessica blushed.

"And what is that?" Horatio asked.

"I want you to make love to me tonight."

Horatio looked at her. They hadn't taken any step beyond making out yet and Horatio wanted to make sure that Jessica was ready for the next step.

"Jessica, we don't have to do that."

"Horatio, I love you. I knew I did from the moment I saw you." Jessica grinned, "I want this. I want to take that step."

Horatio nodded and gave her a soft kiss, "Are you hungry?"

"Starving."

"Want pizza?"

"That would be great! Oh and by the way, my mom is wondering if you have ever eaten French food." Jessica smiled.

"I don't think I have."

"She's making it for dinner when we're there. My mom is crazy about France." Jessica chuckled, "She even speaks French fluently."

"Your mother seems to be a very interesting woman." Horatio smiled.

"She is. She is also very curious. So don't be surprised if she asks all sorts of questions or tells you about stories from my childhood." Jessica said.

"I have a feeling that you will be blushing a lot on Saturday." Horatio teased.

"You have no idea." Jessica giggled.

Horatio ordered pizza and the two of them ate it while watching a movie. After the movie, they snuggled on the couch.

"So what team was Bob coaching?" Horatio asked.

"One like mine, one girl and one boy. But they were younger than mine." Jessica said, "My team or rather couple, is 15-years-old. His is 12."

"What happens to them now?"

"I will coach them until we can find a new one." Jessica shrugged, "Bob was a great coach. Even though he was disliked for having a short fuse and always sounding angry, he knew what he was doing and his team was great. You should see what they can do on the ice."

"I can imagine it's hard too."

"Absolutely."

"Can I come to a competition and watch someday?" Horatio asked.

"You really want that?"

"Yeah, why not?" Horatio smiled.

"Well, there is a competition in Miami in two months." Jessica grinned.

"I will be there." Horatio smiled.

Jessica yawned and Horatio carried her to her bed. She giggled when he placed her on the bed and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Are you really sure you want to do it tonight?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, I am." Jessica grinned.

Horatio smiled and kissed her hard.

**-I-**

"Is Jessica alright?" Frank asked the next day.

Horatio nodded and took a sip from his coffee. Last night had been long. He and Jessica had stayed up late, then made love for the first time and then talked for two more hours. Horatio had only got about four hours of sleep, but it was worth it. He would do anything for his blonde woman, even losing some sleep.

"You look like you just woke up." Frank grinned.

"You have no idea how right you are." Horatio yawned, "I'll be fine though."

"Rough night?"

"Not really."

"Good night?"

"Yeah." Horatio said, eyeing Frank suspiciously.

Frank smirked and patted Horatio on the back.

"You do realize that you got a hickey just at the collar of your shirt, right?" Frank asked and laughed when Horatio choked on his coffee.

"Thank you for telling me." Horatio blushed.

"Anytime. If I were you, I would ask one of the girls for a little makeup to cover it up. Wouldn't want people to know what you did last night now would ya?" Frank teased.

"Francis… please leave." Horatio said and Frank left with a big smirk.

Horatio went to the men's room and looked at his neck. He sighed heavily. Everyone would see the hickey. With a blush, Horatio went to the morgue and asked Alexx if she knew how to hide marks that he didn't want to be visible.

"What kind of mark?" Alexx asked.

"Um…" Horatio blushed.

"Oh! That kind of a mark." Alexx laughed, "I'll help you honey."

Across town Jessica had no idea that she was also walking around with a hickey. She was currently in the ladies room, when her friend and colleague Jill entered and smirked.

"What?" Jessica asked.

"I see you were well taken care of last night." Jill grinned.

"Um, yeah, how do you know that?"

Jill pointed at the neck and Jessica gasped as she took a closer look in the mirror.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, "I've walked around with this through the hallways!"

"Well, at least it shows all the guys that you're not single anymore." Jill laughed.

_**Please review!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Horatio glanced at the clock. In two hours he and Jessica would finally arrive in Orlando. He was so nervous. He couldn't remember last time he had been this nervous. Horatio was driving and looked over at Jessica in the passenger seat. She was asleep with a small smile. He sighed heavily. Frank and Jesse had teased him yesterday about meeting his future in-laws.

_Horatio and Jessica sitting in a tree_… rang in his head over and over again. Not only did Horatio have to go to dinner with Jessica's family, but he and Jessica would be staying there for the night and then go home tomorrow; he was nervous about sleeping at her parent's house. Horatio drove to a gas station and stepped out to give his car what it needed. He was driving his Buick Skylark from 1966 and had been warned that it would drive Jessica's brother Henry crazy of joy. Horatio's phone rang and he frowned when he saw that the caller was Eric.

"Hello?"

"_H, it's me. Where did you put the extra key to your house again?_" Eric asked.

Eric had been given the easy task of just looking out for Horatio's house.

"Under the doormat." Horatio said.

"_Nope, it's not there_."

Horatio frowned and checked his pockets. He groaned as he felt the little key in one of his pockets.

"I forgot to leave it." He said.

"_Wow, you must be really nervous if you even start forgetting things. Just remember that your name is Horatio_." Eric chuckled.

"You're not helping." Horatio groaned, "This can't be normal."

"_Sure it is. How do you think I felt the first time I had to meet Calleigh's dad in private?_" Eric grinned, "_Everything will be fine_."

"Eric, um, are you okay with me dating Jessica?" Horatio asked.

He had wanted to talk to Eric about it for a long time. He worried that Eric and his family would hate him for finding a woman after Marisol, even if it had been five years since Marisol had passed away. Horatio had finally gotten over the guilt of falling in love again himself.

"_Yeah, why not?_" Eric asked, "_H you deserve to be happy and you've waited long enough for it. Jessica seems like a great woman and we're still family. My parents wishes you all the best of luck with her_."

"Thanks." Horatio said.

"_Anytime. By the way, Calleigh wants me to tell you that she is still waiting to meet Jessica. As is the team_." Eric chuckled, "_You've got a lot of pressure on you now, H_."

"Don't I know it?" Horatio laughed, "I'll see you when I get back."

Eric and Horatio said their goodbyes and hung up. Horatio filled up the gas and drove off. After more than an hour, he was getting closer to the neighborhood that Jessica's parents apparently lived in. He gently shook Jessica awake.

"Sweetheart, which house is it?" He asked.

"Are you nervous?"

"Yes."

"Don't be. My mom is wonderful; my brother is a big harmless baby." Jessica grinned.

"And your father?"

"He might be a little difficult at first, but I'm sure you can show him what a great man you are." Jessica smiled, "Relax and just enjoy."

"I will try." Horatio smiled.

Jessica pointed at a big house and Horatio pulled up on the driveway. As soon as he and Jessica got out of the car, a blonde woman came running towards them. She looked like an older version of Jessica. She threw herself in to Jessica's arms and kissed her face.

"Oh sweetheart, it's been so long! I missed you!" The woman exclaimed.

Horatio understood that it was Jessica's mother. Jessica laughed and reached her hand out to Horatio. He gladly accepted it and smiled at his future mother-in-law.

"Are you sure there's really 11 years between you?" She asked and gave Horatio a hug, "He sure looks younger than you."

"Mom!" Jessica gasped.

"I hope a good personality comes with the good looks."

"Mom, this is Horatio Caine. Horatio, meet my very talkative mother Irene."

"Horatio fits you like a glove." Irene smiled, "The boy over there is my son."

Henry walked over to the trio and shook hands with Horatio and hugged his sister. Then he noticed the car behind Horatio and gasped.

"Oh my god!" He exclaimed, "Is that a Buick Skylark from 1966?"

"It sure is." Horatio grinned.

"That is my dream car!"

"You can drive it if you like."

"I would kiss you if you weren't already dating my sister." Henry grinned and gave Horatio a hug.

Irene and Jessica laughed at Horatio's shocked look and then Irene led them all inside.

"Henry you can play with the car later." She called to her son when he walked around the car and look dreamingly at it.

Inside, Horatio shook hands with Jessica's father Clark. Horatio noticed how Clark tried to be nice and how Irene glared at her husband when he quickly left them alone in the hallway. Irene threw on a smile and showed Horatio around the house. Jessica and Henry shook their heads at their mother's giggling and joy of showing off her home. Henry and Jessica rarely brought anyone home to meet their parents and Jessica had never before brought anyone home so _early_ in the relationship. Irene was beside herself with curiosity and joy.

Once they all sat down to eat dinner, Irene started asking questions.

"Isn't being a CSI kind of dangerous?" She asked.

"It can be. But walking out the front door is dangerous as well. You never know what can happen." Horatio smiled.

"That's my motto." Henry said and received a slap on his arm from his sister, "What was that for?"

"That's not your motto. Your motto is act like you're 16 and do nothing until you retire." Jessica said.

"That's my old motto. I got a new one." Henry grinned.

"How knew?" Horatio asked.

"One minute. I got it from you." Henry chuckled.

"I would never have guessed." Horatio joked.

"You don't worry about the hours you work or the danger of being killed in your line of work?" Clark asked, "How much overtime do you work? Will Jessica spend hours waiting for you at home? What if you die and she's left alone?"

"Sir, I think you of all people understand the risks of being a cop." Horatio said since Clark had been a cop himself, "I don't work so much overtime anymore because I have a reason _not_ to spend all night in my office, that reason is Jessica. And when I do have to work overtime, I try to finish as much work as possible before the weekend so that I can spend it with Jessica."

"And the risk of getting killed?"

"That didn't stop you from being cop." Horatio said.

Henry was mentally clapping his hands and cheering Horatio on. Not many people talked like that to Clark, only his children and wife did. Jessica's former boyfriends would have run to the hills by now.

"As I told Irene, you can die every day when you walk out the front door. It doesn't stop people from going to work or to school. Or from enjoying life. I know it's a dangerous job, but I love my job." Horatio said.

Clark nodded; he liked Horatio better for every minute that passed. Irene saw the look in Clark's eyes and knew that he was beginning to accept Horatio as a part of the family.

"Mom, tell Horatio about the time Jessica broke her legs." Henry changed the subject.

"No!" Jessica growled, "That was a low moment in my life."

"Oh sweetheart, you were only 15." Irene grinned, "Jessica has always been very stubborn and always had to prove her brother wrong. Thank god, she's not so eager to do it now a days."

"Mom…" Jessica groaned.

"We were on a trip to Canada during the winter and Henry had a snowboard, he always took the most difficult tracks he could find. He teased Jessica and said she couldn't do like him. She had to prove that she could, even though she had never used a snowboard before. She took the lift high up in the mountain and the first things she did when she jumped out of the lift was to break both her legs." Irene chuckled.

Horatio and Henry laughed and Jessica joined in after a while. Even Clark couldn't help but to chuckle.

"She was taken to the hospital in a helicopter and never wanted to talk about her unfortunate event again. Henry wasn't about to let her forget it though, the following year he won a weekend trip to Canada and classes to learn how to go snowboarding, he gave it to Jessica." Irene smiled, "She never went though."

"You should have seen the way she looked at me when she opened her gift." Henry grinned, "The anger in her eyes is unimaginable."

"That's one of the rare times that Jessica has gotten really mad." Irene smiled.

"You try having a big brother like Henry and you'll soon find yourself wanting to prove him wrong too." Jessica defended herself.

"I do have that kind of relationship with Jesse." Horatio smiled, "At least we used too."

"Did you guys even get injured from that?" Henry asked.

"All the time. Not so bad that we ended up in a hospital, but we did have bruises all the time." Horatio said, "We were getting to know each other and wanted to compete against one another."

The rest of the dinner went on fine. Irene asked Horatio all sorts of questions about work and his family. He told her his family was his team. Horatio heard more about embarrassing moments in both Jessica's and Henry's childhood.

"The first thing Henry did when he got his driver's license was to take Clark's car and crash in to a hedge. He got a concussion and a very angry father because of it." Irene chuckled.

"Speaking of cars… can I test drive your beauty out there?" Henry grinned at Horatio.

"Sure." Horatio said and gave him the keys.

They all went outside to watch as Henry skipped to the car and drove out on the road for a little drive.

"If he crashes it, I will let you hit him." Jessica joked, "Seriously though, he's a good driver."

"I think he can handle my car. He's so afraid to wreck it that he probably won't even drive fast." Horatio grinned.

"You said your team was your family, you don't have any brothers or sisters?" Clark asked.

"My little brother Raymond died many years ago. My parents are also gone." Horatio said, "My wife died five years ago."

"I'm sorry." Clark and Irene said.

"It's okay; she's in a better place." Horatio smiled.

"Jessica has been hurt by her ex-boyfriends. I don't want her to call me and cry because you said or did something stupid." Clark said firmly.

He was very protective of his children. But Jessica was the only one who had been hurt before. Henry had been lucky.

"I have no intensions on hurting her." Horatio said, "I understand that you're worried, but trust me when I say that I would do anything for her."

"I hope so. My daughter deserves the best." Clark said.

"And Horatio is the best." Jessica said and glared at her father.

"Mr. Stanley. I have also been hurt before and before I met Jessica, I hated coming home to my empty house. I hated what my life had become. It was just about work and sometimes seeing my family. And even if they were always there for me and they still are, I felt very lonely. I was afraid to open up to someone again. But Jessica has captured my heart. I'm not afraid to open my heart to her." Horatio said, "I trust her and she trusts me. I hope you will be able to do that as well."

Clark nodded, "I must say that I'm convinced that you're good for her."

Horatio gave him a small smile and they men shook hands. Horatio knew he still had to prove that his love for Jessica wasn't for a shorter period, that he really wanted to stay with her for the rest of his life. Jessica also knew this.

"Horatio, how much do you want for this beauty?" Henry asked as came back and parked the car.

"It's not for sale." Horatio laughed.

"We can share it. I can take care of it every weekend." Henry joked.

"It's not a child Henry." Jessica said and rolled her eyes.

"A car is a baby on wheels." Henry grinned.

Everyone went back inside to chat in the living room. Later in the evening it was time to get some sleep. Henry showed Jessica and Horatio to Jessica's old room.

"If you feel the need to be intimate, just remember to be quiet. Because the last thing I want to hear is my sister…"

"Goodbye Henry!" Jessica growled and slammed the door shut.

She giggled and hugged Horatio.

"So is the family accepted?" She asked.

"Yeah they are. It's time for you to meet my family." Horatio smiled and gave her a kiss, "Think you can be quiet?"

"Horatio!" Jessica laughed, "You and Henry are so alike sometimes."

"There is a little boy joking with everyone inside every grown man's body." Horatio smiled, "I think your father is beginning to see that we really love each other."

"Was he too bad?"

"Nothing I can't handle. I'm a CSI sweetheart; I am used to seeing dead bodies and all sorts of disgusting things. Meeting criminals every day. I think I can handle a protective father." Horatio said, "Besides, he and I have that in common. I was very protective of Raymond. Sometimes he did exactly what I didn't want him to do just to tease me, but I knew he also worried about me."

"I would have liked to meet him." Jessica smiled.

"I think you would have liked him." Horatio said.

Jessica gave Horatio a deep kiss and then they finally went to sleep. They snuggled close to each other and they both fell asleep with a smile on their face.

_**Please review!**_


	7. Chapter 7

Horatio had had a rough week at the lab. The team had worked hard with trying to find a child murderer that had murdered 5 children in only three weeks. The man had kidnapped these children, who were all around the age of 4, and let them starve for two days before he had strangled them. Why? Nobody knew. The man, a young guy under the age of 30, had committed suicide by cop. Horatio now had to work out his frustration somehow. He knew he shouldn't put the weight of the world on his shoulders and not take the guilt for things he couldn't control. But he couldn't help himself. He had been raised with the belief that everything that happened was his fault. It was his father that had told Horatio how useless he was and that Horatio failed in life if something went knew that he shouldn't believe what his father had said to him when he was a kid, but it was hard to push those so deeply engraved thoughts and feelings out of his mind.

The beach outside his house was the place Horatio went when he needed to think and relax. Jessica found him sitting on the beach in the cool wind. She hadn't experienced Horatio in a bad moment before and was a little unsure of how to react or what to do. Alexx Woods had called Jessica and told her to talk to Horatio, since it was unlikely that Horatio would seek help on his own. He needed to talk to someone and Jessica was the best person. Horatio just had a hard time asking Jessica to listen to him. He considered himself to be burden if he did.

"Dinner with your team is only three hours away." Jessica said as she sat down next to her boyfriend.

Two weeks ago they had been in Orlando for dinner with her family. Since then, their love had only grown more. Jessica knew she would always love Horatio, even if he had some demons from his past that still haunted him. Horatio had only mentioned quickly once, that former girlfriends had run away when they had felt that he was too emotional and carried too much baggage on his shoulders.

"Your team is your family. And once I get to know them better, they will become my family as well." Jessica said, "But _you_ are family for me _already_ and you know what family is good for?"

Horatio could make a long list of what family was good for, but he knew Jessica wanted a specific answer. He shrugged.

"Family is good when you're feeling down." Jessica smiled, "And your family will always be around to listen if you want and need to talk."

Horatio nodded. He knew he should open up to Jessica more. But it was hard to tell her about things he had never really _talked _about before with anyone. Really _talked_.

"I um... just twenty minutes before we stormed the warehouse where the killer kept his victims, he strangled his last victim. _Twenty minutes_ before we got there." Horatio said, "If we had just been a little quicker then…"

"Horatio, life is full of _ifs_." Jessica said and squeezed his hand, "_If_ I had only decided to go to work early today I wouldn't have been stuck in traffic for two hours."

"I know I shouldn't feel guilty, because it's not my fault, but…"

"You do anyway."

"Yes."

"Why?" Jessica asked.

"Because I've been raised that way." Horatio whispered.

Horatio hadn't told Jessica much about his childhood. The few times he said anything, it was always about his mother or little brother. Never about his father.

"My father was a monster and he raised me to believe that I was to blame for everything that went wrong in the world." Horatio sighed, "I know it's not true, but I can't just shake those words. I can't get that out of my mind."

"What did your mother use to say?" Jessica asked.

"That my father was wrong. That I couldn't be blamed for things I had no control over. Like a hurricane."

"And who do you believe the most? Your father or mother?"

"My mother of course."

"Then believe in _her _words to its fullest. Whenever you feel that you're taking the blame for things out of your control, think about what your mother said." Jessica smiled.

Horatio nodded and gave her a small smile. She was right. Why should he believe a monster's words when he could believe the words of an angel?

"You're right." He said, "You're not going to run away are you?"

"Never." Jessica smiled, "Would your run away if I told you that I once smoke some pot?"

"No."

"Good." Jessica said, "I was 15 and curious. But it was only once and I'll never do it again."

"You always make me feel good." Horatio grinned, "You know that right?"

"I do. And I hope you know that you make me feel good too." Jessica smiled, "Horatio?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me about Raymond."

Horatio looked away and glanced down at his feet. He had mixed feelings about his little brother. He loved him very much and missed him every day. Raymond had looked up to Horatio, but also intentionally pissed him off. They had always been different, yet had the same goal in life; to help people.

"Sometimes I hated him. I hated that he was loved by our father and I was hated by him. I hated him when he took everything for granted, even me. He knew he was my entire world when our parents died and he used that sometimes. He messed around with me ´cause he knew that I wouldn't leave him." Horatio sighed, "But I also loved him. He was the little brother that said he would beat anyone that was evil to me. He would call me every day and ask how I was. Even if we had a fight."

"He looked up to you?"

"Yeah, but he also wanted to test how far he could go before I finally snapped." Horatio said, "I think it was hard for him to deal with my overprotection."

"It was good and bad I guess."

"It still is. Sometimes I need to step back and let people handle themselves. But it was hard to do that with Ray. I wanted to protect him and let him fly free on the same time."

"I bet you also saw some situations differently than him."

"Oh yeah, if I thought he did something wrong, he thought he did it right." Horatio shrugged, "I think I was more aware of the danger in life in general than him. But, he was always able to relax and take risks that I sometimes couldn't."

"How did he die?"

"He was shot in the line of duty." Horatio whispered, "That was one of the worst days of my life."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be. You didn't shoot him." Horatio gave her a small smile, "Actually it turned out that he didn't die that day. He came back a few years later and had to leave the country. Then he died again just weeks after Marisol."

"That's horrible Horatio!" Jessica gasped.

She took Horatio in her arms and held him close.

"What happened to Marisol?"

"She was shot too. By some enemies of mine." Horatio said, "We hadn't been married very long. In fact we hadn't known each other very long. But we did love each other."

"I think both Raymond and Marisol are in a better place and they're smiling down at us." Jessica smiled.

"I think so too." Horatio said.

"I guess I should tell you about something that happened when I was only 12." Jessica sighed, "I had a little sister. Sally was her name."

"Something bad happened?"

"Yeah, she was um, run over by a car when she was 8. Dad was there that day. He had run after her and was so close of grabbing her arm when the car hit her. The driver hadn't seen her." Jessica sighed and let some tears fall, "After that day my dad became overprotective of me and Henry. After a few years and fights I managed to make him understand that what happened that day in December was out of his control. He couldn't have changed anything and that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a cage with him holding the key because he was afraid I would die as soon as I stepped out the door."

"This explains why he was a little hard to win over at dinner two weeks ago." Horatio said.

"Yeah, but you have all his love now. Mom says he can't stop talking about what a good man you are." Jessica chuckled, "This is Sally."

Jessica showed Horatio a photograph of Sally taken the same year as she had died. Horatio smiled as he saw that Sally looked like Jessica.

"She was very pretty." He smiled.

"And had a lot of energy. She had run ahead of dad and forgotten about the road with cars. It was an accident." Jessica said.

"Your family doesn't talk about her?" Horatio asked.

"My mom and dad can't. It's too hard for them. Henry and I talk about her sometimes. But we've had easier to move on then mom and dad." Jessica said, "Then again, I think it might have been harder for them to lose a child, then for us to lose a sister. Maybe."

"Everyone deals with grief differently." Horatio said and gave Jessica a soft kiss, "Thank you for being here with me."

"Thank you for letting me." Jessica grinned, "Should we prepare dinner soon?"

"What should we give my team? I should warn you that they are a group of hungry people." Horatio chuckled, "Especially the guys."

"Roast lamb?"

"Mm, wonderful!" Horatio grinned widely.

Jessica and Horatio didn't start with the food until there was only one hour left before everyone would arrive. They finished the food just as Calleigh and Eric arrived ten minutes early. After them, Ryan followed and then within five minutes everyone was there besides Frank.

"I think Frank forgot the time." Jesse smirked.

"He better not! I've reminded him all day about this dinner and even called him thirty minutes ago." Alexx said.

"Well he is getting older these days, he might start forgetting things. It's completely natural." Ryan grinned.

"Frank has a very good memory." Calleigh said.

"No, he _had_ a good memory ten years ago. _Had_." Jesse corrected grinning.

"Is Frank your favorite person to tease?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah." The boys replied, even Horatio.

"Hey, Frank loves to tease us too." Horatio defended himself when Jessica gasped at him.

"Who drove up to Orlando by the way?" Jesse innocently asked.

Jessica and Horatio both rolled their eyes. Jesse didn't manage to contain his laughter.

"Horatio drove there." Jessica smiled.

"Just wanted to know, since you crashed in to him two months ago." Jesse smirked.

"Get used to this honey, he will never let your forget it." Horatio said, "Unless I give him less pay maybe."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jesse laughed, "I was just asking."

"Sure Jesse, sure." Everyone chuckled.

When Frank arrived, everyone went out on the back porch and started eating dinner. Jessica was surprised to see the boys eating a lot, even if Horatio had warned her about it, it was a surprise.

"I think my brother needs to learn to eat from you guys." She grinned.

"He eats bad?" Alexx asked.

"He only eats when he's on the verge of starving. He says he forgets that he's hungry." Jessica shrugged.

"That sounds like someone else I know." Frank said and glanced at Horatio.

"I eat if I have time to eat." Horatio said.

Everyone laughed because they knew it wasn't true.

"So tell me something I don't know about Horatio." Jessica grinned and Horatio groaned.

"His nickname is H." Jesse started, "He hates Rick Stetler from IAB and Rick hates him."

"Hate is a very strong word." Natalia grinned, "More like dislike each other so bad they would gladly live on two separate planets."

"Horatio's favorite possession is his sunglasses." Eric smiled.

"There's sun in Miami and what does one use to shield the eyes from the sun? Sunglasses!" Horatio defended himself.

"Not indoors." Eric smirked, "H is also the kind of guy that would take a bullet for anyone he cares about and loves."

"He also hates, sorry Natalia, paperwork." Jesse said.

"Who doesn't?" Horatio asked.

Frank raised his hand. Everyone looked shocked at him.

"What? Paperwork is relaxing." Frank said.

"Okay." Jesse shrugged, "H is a great basketball player."

"I didn't know that." Ryan said and Eric nodded in agreement.

"Well, we haven't played in ages." Jesse said, "Now, Horatio, why don't you tell us about Jessica?"

Horatio blushed slightly and nodded.

"Jessica is a figure skating coach. She is the kind of girl that wouldn't refuse to help somebody at any moment." Horatio smiled and squeezed Jessica's hand, "She's shy, yet tough. She can blush a lot."

Everyone laughed and Jessica blushed a deep shade of red.

"She believes that there is something good inside everyone." Horatio smiled, "And she writes little messages on the mirror sometimes just to show you how much she cares and loves you. In this case, she writes all those notes for me."

"You are so cute!" Alexx exclaimed and blew her nose, "I am so emotional when it comes to love."

"Well, Jessica you should know you have done something remarkable. Because I've never seen H blush so much in only one hour and not smile so much either in two months." Frank grinned.

"I think my friends would say that he's done the same for me." Jessica grinned.

**-I-**

"Think they will accept me as part of the family?" Jessica asked after dinner.

She and Horatio were snuggling in bed.

"Oh sweetheart, they've already taken you in as one in the family. Calleigh and Natalia has already adopted you as a sister. Alexx as a daughter." Horatio grinned, "When the boys get to know you even better they will tease you for the rest of your life."

"They remind of Henry." Jessica chuckled, "So I think can manage them."

"Of that I have no doubt." Horatio said, "It's them who need to worry about all the things you can tease them about."

"Who was most nervous about dinner? You or me?"

"Me. You have nerves of steel."

"That is so not true and you know it. Remember the first time we met?" Jessica asked, "I was so nervous that I was almost shaking."

"Remember our first date? I thought everything I said had scared you away." Horatio chuckled.

"I thought so too!" Jessica exclaimed, "You know, I like this bed."

"You've spent four nights in a row in it." Horatio smiled.

"I think I have to put some extra clothes here for me. That way I won't have to pack a small bag every time I sleep over."

"You can move as many things as you want here." Horatio grinned.

"Are you saying I should move in?"

"I wouldn't mind coming home to you in this house every day." Horatio said.

Jessica grinned widely and gave Horatio a deep kiss.

"Then consider me a fulltime resident." Jessica grinned and kissed Horatio deeply.

_**Please review!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I'm not sure how old Kyle is in the show, I think he's between 18 and 20. So I made him 19. **

**-I-**

Jessica and Horatio had been together for two months now. It had been two weeks since the team had been over for dinner and Jessica had slowly moved some smaller things in to Horatio's beach house. Now it was time for bigger things, like furniture. Jessica and Horatio had talked about what to keep and what to throw away. Jessica's couch was moving in and Horatio's old couch was moving out. Other than that, it was a lot of her kitchen utensils that moved in. They had also bought some new things together.

At the moment, they were carrying boxes containing their new chest of drawers to the bedroom.

"How many more boxes do we have?" Jessica asked as they put one box down on the floor.

"Um, five, I think." Horatio said, "I told you we should have accepted help from Frank and Eric."

"I know, I know." Jessica smiled, "But we can manage these last boxes."

Horatio gave her a soft kiss and they went out to the hummer. The boxes were small but heavy. Horatio took one and Jessica decided to take the lightest of them all, even if it was still quite heavy. She growled as she dragged it off the seat and put it on the ground.

"Need help?" A male voice asked.

Jessica looked up to see a young man that looked a lot like Horatio, standing by the driver's side door.

"Kyle?" She asked.

"That's me." Kyle smiled, "Are you Jessica?"

"Yes." Jessica smiled and shook hands with Kyle.

Kyle was dressed in army clothes and Jessica remembered that Horatio had said his son was coming home in three days. Apparently Kyle had come home early. Kyle had known about Jessica a long time; from video conversations with his father.

"I came home earlier than expected, is dad here?" Kyle asked.

"He's inside."

Just then Horatio came outside and smiled widely as he saw his son. He walked up to him and they hugged.

"I expected you to come home in three days." Horatio smiled.

"I got the chance to take an early flight. I missed Miami and you and mom." Kyle said, "So um, you are moving in together?"

"Yeah, we just have a few boxes left. Want to help or didn't you get any muscles in the army?" Horatio teased.

Kyle chuckled and grabbed a box. Together the three of them finished getting everything inside in just three minutes. Once they were done, Kyle changed in to more comfortable clothes and helped his father and Jessica put everything together.

"How long have you been dating now?" He asked.

"Three months." Horatio said.

Jessica was in the bedroom, putting her clothes in the chest of drawers.

"A little early for moving in then isn't it?" Kyle asked.

He liked Jessica and could see that she and Horatio were in love, but he worried that his dad would get hurt.

"Maybe, but we feel that it's the right choice." Horatio said, "What do you think of Jessica?"

"She's great. She brings a smile to your face and that is important for me." Kyle smiled, "I just don't want you to get hurt dad."

"I won't. I'm sure of my feelings for Jessica."

"Say it dad."

"What?"

"You're in love." Kyle grinned, "Should I sing the _sitting in a tree_-song?"

"No thank you. I've heard it almost every day since I met her." Horatio said, "Instead you can tell me what you want for dinner."  
"Me?"

"Yes, we have to celebrate that you've come home." Jessica said from the doorway and grinned when both men jumped.

"You're as sneaky as dad!" Kyle laughed, "Well, we should also celebrate that you've moved in here."

"You still get to decide what to eat." Jessica smiled.

"Okay, um… something from the grill." Kyle said, "Dad can cook."

Horatio nodded and checked the fridge. He had beef which Kyle loved. All three of them were hungry, so Horatio started making food right away. In the meantime, Kyle put some of his things in his room and looked at the photo of his dad and himself on the night stand. He also had a picture of his mother there. Kyle went out on the back porch and watched his father by the grill. He sat down by the table, across from Jessica.

"Your father refused to let me help with dinner." She grinned.

"He always does that." Kyle chuckled, "You have good intensions with him right?"

"Yes. I would never hurt him. I love him." Jessica smiled.

She knew it was probably hard to get used to seeing Horatio with a woman. Kyle hadn't been around when Horatio had been with Marisol, but Horatio had told Kyle about her.

"Good. I just want him to be happy." Kyle said, "Has he told you how we met?"

Jessica nodded. She had heard a lot about the day that Horatio had found his son and about some problems with Julia. She also knew that everything was fine now. Horatio and Julia were actually friends now.

"Has he told you about my mom?"

"Some yes." Jessica said.

"Good, just want to make sure you know a little family history. Sometimes dad doesn't tell his family things because he's afraid to hurt them or scare them away. He doesn't always realize that he should talk to us to prevent _himself_ from getting hurt." Kyle said, "He's the most kind man I've ever met."

"It's amazing how kind he is." Jessica agreed.

"My mom is dating a guy named Shane and he has a 10-year-old daughter named Stephanie." Kyle said.

"Do you get along with Shane and Stephanie?"

"Yeah so far." Kyle smiled, "They're good for mom. I talk too much, I'm sorry."

"No, no. It's fun to hear. I don't mind." Jessica smiled, "Anything you want to know about me?"

"Um, has dad met your family yet?"

"Yeah, my brother and mother loved him from the moment they saw him. My dad was a little hard to convince that this was going to work. He still isn't sure it will hold forever, but he has given us a chance. And he is happy for the time that Horatio can make me happy." Jessica said, "You should have seen my brother when he saw Horatio's Buick Skylark."

"Oh yeah! I drove it once and my friends couldn't believe their eyes." Kyle laughed.

"That car is yours one day." Horatio said as he brought the food to the table and sat down between his girlfriend and son.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." Horatio grinned.

Kyle gave his father a hug and grinned widely, "Thanks dad!"

Dinner went fine and Kyle talked a lot about the army. He also said he wanted to study medicine and maybe become a paramedic. Horatio was proud over his son and his choice of career. After dinner, Kyle was tired and wanted to rest in his room. Jessica and Horatio took a walk on the beach.

"So you think Kyle will like living with the two of us?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, he is more worried that you will start getting tired of him." Horatio smiled.

"Never. He's a great kid." Jessica said, "He's so much like you too."

"Everyone says that!" Horatio laughed, "He has grown a lot since the day I found him. I'm very proud of him."

"You should be. He's proud of you too."

"So are you ready to take this step in our relationship?" Horatio asked.

"Horatio, you've asked me that for two weeks now. And what has my answer been every time?"

"That you could never be more sure that this is the right step. And that you've never been so ready in your life." Horatio grinned, "But you did get a fifteen minute longer drive to work now."

"I can sacrifice that!" Jessica laughed and gave Horatio a kiss.

Then she saw a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and shrieked as he picked her up from the ground and walked towards the ocean.

"No! Horatio!" Jessica shrieked and laughed as he dropped her in the ocean.

She stood up and pulled him down with her. He chuckled and tickled her. They shared a kiss as they stood in the ocean that reached Jessica's waist.

"What made you decide to throw me in here?" She asked.

"You looked like you needed to cool down." Horatio smirked and grabbed her as he let himself fall back and under the water.

When the stood up again, they saw Kyle standing on the beach.

"Really mature behaviour guys." He chuckled, "Next time let me know before you do this, so I can record it and put in on the internet."

Horatio and Jessica glanced at each other and smirked. Kyle ran away when they both made a move to grab him. Kyle almost made it back to the house when Horatio grabbed him and managed to get him wet as well.

"You are so going to pay for that!" Kyle laughed and splashed water on his father.

Jessica was on the beach laughing as father and son tried to pull each other under the water. After a while they both splashed water on her and she ran inside the house. The two men followed shortly after.

"You two are crazy!" Kyle grinned, "But I like it."

Kyle disappeared to his room and Jessica and Horatio stood in the kitchen, water dripping off them. Horatio kissed Jessica hard and caressed her back.

"We should take a shower." Horatio whispered in her ear.

Jessica chuckled and followed Horatio inside the bathroom. She saw what great father Horatio was to Kyle and knew that if they ever got children together, they would have the father of their dreams.

_**Please review!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Inspired by the review from: _Jessi84_ (from chapter 4). **

**-I-**

Horatio had never really been interested in watching figure skating before. But then again, he had never met anyone who had talked about the different techniques used to create a beautiful piece of art. Jessica called every performance a _piece of art_. And Jessica was the reason that Horatio had become curious to see figure skating. Therefore, he and Kyle were sitting in the audience during a figure skating competition, waiting for Jessica's team to perform.

"If your team could see you know." Kyle smirked.

"They would think I'm a good boyfriend." Horatio said.

"The women would think that, the guys… that's a different story."

"Just because the guys don't know how treat a lady doesn't mean I don't." Horatio said, "You should actually take notes."

"I know dad, I know. It is nice of you to be here for Jessica." Kyle smiled, "I can just imagine what Cardoza will say on Monday."

"Hey! You're not going to tell him." Horatio exclaimed, "You're going to school."

"Oh, but I might come over for lunch." Kyle grinned.

Horatio gave Kyle a glare and then rolled his eyes. Kyle enjoyed teasing his father because he had never seen him in love before. Kyle had teased his mother too when she had first met her boyfriend Shane.

"When is her team going to perform?" Kyle asked, "We've watched like seven couples already."

"They're number 15." Horatio said.

Kyle groaned and leaned back in the chair. Horatio resisted the urge to do the same. After a while though, he got lost in watching couple after couple skate on the ice. _It was beautiful_. And amazing what they could do on the ice. He snapped out of his thoughts, when he noticed that Kyle was too quiet. He looked over at his son and growled lightly. His eyes were closed.

"Pay attention!" Horatio snapped and shook Kyle awake.

"Sorry." Kyle sighed, "How many more couples are there left?"

"2 before Jessica's team. The whole competition? 10." Horatio said, "Look at that, you wouldn't be able to move like that on the ice."

"No I can admit I would fall flat on my ass, but that doesn't mean I have to like figure skating." Kyle said.

"Then why did you come here?"

"To see you give Jessica your love looks."

"Love looks?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, you know when you give her that smile and that look in your eyes that says: _I want to take you home and worship you_." Kyle grinned.

"I do _not_ have that kind of look."

"Yes you do dad." Kyle chuckled.

Horatio shook his head and sighed. He didn't have a look like that… did he? He might have the thought of taking Jessica home and worship her and show her how talented he was in… Horatio mentally smacked himself for thinking about sexual stuff while watching a competition.

"I want a hot dog." Kyle groaned.

"After the competition." Horatio said.

Kyle shrugged. It had been two weeks since Kyle had gotten home from the army. He was going to school and studying hard. He enjoyed being home with his father and Jessica. Some nights he would sleep over at his mother's place.

"So um, you still haven't told me how you first met Jessica." Kyle smiled, "And I'm not talking about the time in the mall. I'm talking the _first_ time."

"She crashed in to me with her car. It was raining and she didn't see me." Horatio shrugged.

"You're dating a girl that crashed in to you?" Kyle laughed, "Was it love at first sight?".

"Yes." Horatio said and blushed.

"It was love with a _crash_, huh?" Kyle chuckled.

"Kyle…"

"How did you and mom meet?" Kyle smiled, "She said she hurt you and then you two fell in love with each other."

"I heard a scream for her apartment and ran inside to see if she was okay. She must have thought I was somebody else and she hit me with a shovel in the face." Horatio said and rolled his eyes when Kyle laughed.

"She said a burglar had been inside her apartment."

"Yeah, I caught him." Horatio shrugged, "Then she said she wanted to make me dinner to apologize for breaking my nose."

"Let me guess, you weren't exactly impressed by her cooking?" Kyle asked.

Julia was probably the worst cook ever, so it was a good thing that Shane worked as a chef.

"No I wasn't. I smiled through the whole dinner and said it was great food." Horatio said, "She's still bad?"

"Yep, but she admits it herself." Kyle smiled, "Now it's finally Jessica's team!"

Horatio and Kyle watched as Jessica's team started their performance. Horatio glanced saw Jessica standing among the other trainers and felt his heart skip a beat. She was so beautiful while focusing on following her team's every move.

"Dad, you're supposed to watch the team not the coach." Kyle smirked.

Horatio snapped out of it and watched the team. They were very good and the judges gave them a high score. When they were done, Horatio and Kyle watched for another hour before they were able to leave. They waited for Jessica outside the arena and she came out with her team. They had come on third place.

"Great work!" Jessica smiled, "You looked amazing out there and third place is good for your fifth competition."

"Next time we get gold!" The boy grinned and he and his partner hugged Jessica goodbye.

Jessica saw Kyle and Horatio. She hugged Kyle and kissed Horatio.

"Um, I'm still here." Kyle said when they had kissed too long.

They broke apart and blushed.

"What did you think?" Jessica asked.

"They were amazing. You're a good coach." Horatio smiled.

Kyle nodded in agreement.

"And the other teams?" Jessica asked.

"Not as good as yours, but I get what you mean when you say it's a piece of art." Horatio said.

"They were good." Kyle said and cursed at himself for not watching better.

"Great! Let's eat dinner then!" Jessica smiled.

Jessica took them to a small diner that she loved and Horatio and Kyle listened to Jessica talking about her team's success.

"We are considered to be a very good team that will keep getting better and better." Jessica grinned, "Have you ever been out on the ice?"

"Yeah sure, in NY." Horatio said.

"Once or twice maybe." Kyle said.

"We should do it tonight! I can talk to the janitor so he can let us use the ice for a while." Jessica grinned widely, "Please for me?"

Horatio and Kyle nodded and smiled. Horatio knew he wouldn't have any trouble standing on two skates, it was Kyle who had to worry.

**-I-**

Jessica showed off on the ice and Horatio stood in the middle watching her. Kyle was still tying the laces and trying to calm himself down.

"Why did I agree to this?" He muttered to himself, "Oh that's right, because you're a nice guy."

Jessica grabbed Horatio's hand and they slowly skated in a circle, while waiting for Kyle.

"You look beautiful." Horatio whispered.

"Thank you." Jessica smiled.

They heard a yell and turned around to see Kyle sitting on the ice.

"Need help getting up?" Horatio asked.

"No, I can manage." Kyle said and grabbed the wall.

He managed to stand up and slowly pulled himself forward. Horatio and Jessica continued to slowly move forward and chuckled every time they heard Kyle fall.

"Just wait until I get my speed up, I'll show you how to skate!" Kyle warned and moved his feet they way he should.

He was closing in on his father and Jessica and grabbed Horatio's arm as he let go of the wall.

"You're doing great son." Horatio grinned, "Let's go faster!"

Horatio started to speed up and Kyle held his arm for dear life. When he got used to the speed he noticed that they were actually still going quite slow.

"Is that all you can do?" Kyle teased and took off.

Jessica and Horatio chuckled and just watched as Kyle skated right towards the wall. He almost fell over and then sat down on the ice again.

"Okay, I think I have realized that skating is not my thing." Kyle chuckled, "Can we go home now?"

Horatio and Jessica nodded. Once they got home, Kyle went to his room and left the two adults alone in the living room.

"Did you know that my grandfather was originally very disappointed when he heard that I loved figure skating?" Jessica asked.

"No, you haven't told me that."

"I haven't? Oh well, he said it wasn't a good career or a sport that would make me famous. He didn't understand that I just wanted to skate because I felt like I could fly on the ice."

"He never changed his mind?"

"He did after I won my first competition. Then he got angry again when I quit and started coaching others. He said I had just ruined a perfect career." Jessica sighed, "After a few years and a lot of fights between him and my dad, he finally realized that I was to fulfill my dreams, not his."

"Was your relationship with him good?" Horatio asked.

"Not always. Sometimes. He was a very controlling man and well, said things without thinking that he might hurt people." Jessica shrugged, "He passed away seven years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. He died in his sleep and he died happy." Jessica smiled, "The last thing he said to me was: _Jessica, I believe in what your heart tells you to do. I've been a fool that tried to keep you captured like a bird, now fly free_."

"That was a beautiful thing to say." Horatio said.

"Yeah it was." Jessica nodded, "How do you look at Kyle's choice of career?"

"As long as he is happy and doesn't do anything illegal, I support him." Horatio smiled, "And if you and I ever get children, I will feel the same way."

"You better give me a sibling." Kyle smiled from the doorway.

"Really?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, I realize it'll be like 20 or more years between me and my sibling, but hey! Family is family no matter the age difference." Kyle grinned, "I'm going to leave you two alone again. Just don't work on giving me a sibling yet!"

Kyle ran up the stairs and left the two adults laughing on the couch.

"He's right." Jessica said, "We should wait."

"Yeah, we should. But having children is definitely something for the future."

"How many?"

"1 or maybe even 10." Horatio grinned.

"Ten?!" Jessica gasped, "You're not the one to carry them and push them out!"

"Relax, sweetheart!" Horatio laughed, "One is enough or even two. I don't think we should decide a specific number."

"Neither do it, but we're definitely not having ten." Jessica grinned and gave Horatio a kiss.

_**Please review!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Jessica woke up in a lonely bed. It was Saturday and normally Horatio would be right next to her. She saw a note on her nightstand and as she read it was clear that Horatio been called in to work. Jessica shrugged and hummed to herself as she made breakfast. She didn't mind that Horatio had to work overtime or on the weekends. It was his job. She loved the fact that he was a CSI.

"What are you singing?" Kyle asked and chuckled when Jessica jumped.

"Kyle, you scared me!" Jessica exclaimed, "Make some noise when you move."

"I can't. I'm like dad."

"I've noticed." Jessica laughed, "Have you had breakfast?"

"Yep, I am going to my mom. I'll probably come home for dinner." Kyle smiled.

Jessica nodded and the two said goodbye. Once Kyle was gone, Jessica noticed how quiet everything was. She was used to hearing Kyle run up and down the stairs or eat breakfast with her and Horatio. She was simply used to always hearing somebody else in the house. Sometimes the silence was nice though.

"I need to get a hobby." Jessica grinned, "Or a pet."

She ate a small breakfast and took a shower. Then she searched the net for something to buy that might be missing in the house. She watched TV and even talked to her mother on the phone. Jessica had never realized how slow time seemed to pass when you had nothing to do.

Eventually, Jessca started looking at photos on a shelf in the living room. It was a photo there of the whole team, but before Ryan and Natalia had joined. There was somebody else on the picture, probably Speed. Horatio had told her about Speed. Horatio also had a picture of Kyle and of Raymond. In the middle of all photos there was a picture of Jessica and Horatio taken on their second date. They had gone in to a photo booth. She remembered how shy Horatio had been at the first two pictures, then he made a funny face for the third and they shared a kiss on the forth. It was the forth picture that he had on display. Then Jessica noticed some baby photos of Horatio. He was asleep in a blanket and looked incredibly cute. She also saw a picture of a young Horatio and a young Raymond. They were out in the snow and smiling at whoever took the photo. Horatio had mentioned that his mother had taken most photos and if she hadn't taken them, then her mother had.

At lunch Jessica got a phone call, she had hoped she would never get. It was Alexx calling her and telling her some of the worst news that Jessica had ever received.

"_Horatio's been shot! He's on the way to Miami Dade Hospital. Do you need me to pick you up_?" Alexx asked.

"Um, what? No, is he okay? How badly injured is he?"

"_He's unconscious_." Alexx sighed, "_Can you drive?_"

"Yes, yes." Jessica said and hung up.

She stared at the phone in her hand as she took in the news. Horatio had been shot. She had always known that there was a possibility he could get injured at work, but that it would actually happened was something she hadn't imagined. Jessica shook her head and grabbed her car keys. She started crying in the car as she didn't seem to get to the hospital fast enough. Once she was there, she ran to the nurse's station in the ER. They told her the usual thing; sit down and wait.

"Jessica honey, over here!" Alexx called for her and lead her to a chair.

"Do you know anything?" Jessica asked.

"No, I don't. They won't tell me anything yet." Alexx sighed.

"What happened?"

"Horatio and Frank were going to talk to a witness and the witness seemed convinced that they were there to arrest him. He shot Horatio in the upper left chest and then got shot himself by Frank." Alexx said, "I got to the scene just as Horatio was being put in the ambulance."

"What if…"

"Honey, he will be alright. You have to believe that." Alexx said and gave Jessica hug.

Jessica and Horatio had only been together for three months. But they had already proven to everyone that their love was strong. Jessica couldn't imagine her life without Horatio.

"I have to call Kyle."

"Already taken care of. He's on his way here." Alexx said.

Jessica was so shocked that she didn't notice that the hours passed and Alexx called the team, they arrived one after the other. Kyle arrived and sat down next to her, but she didn't notice.

"How long has he been here?" Eric asked.

"Four hours." Alexx sighed.

"Why aren't they telling us something?" Kyle growled.

"Because they probably have everything under control. My guess is that he's in surgery right now." Alexx said.

"He's my father, I deserve to know where he is." Kyle said.

"Relax Kyle. If he wasn't fine they would have told us." Ryan said and patted the young man's shoulder.

Jessica snapped out of her deep thoughts. She looked at the people around her. They were all there because they loved and cared for Horatio. She glanced at Jesse, she had never seen him look so serious before, but then again, nothing like this had happened before.

"I need coffee." Frank sighed.

Frank, Jesse and Alexx went to buy everyone coffee. Calleigh sat down next to Jessica and gave her a hug.

"Horatio will fight, because he has something to fight for." Calleigh whispered.

Jessica nodded. Horatio had Kyle and his team. He had Jessica. _He had a family to fight for_.

"What if he doesn't make it?" Jessica whispered back.

"But he will make it." Calleigh said.

"I can't imagine my life without him. I don't even think I had a life before I met him."

"Now that is true love. And Horatio feels the same way." Calleigh smiled, "Did you know that he can see himself living with you for the rest of his life?"

"He's said that?"

"Yes, he has. He wants to wake up next to you until the day he dies as an old, old man." Calleigh smiled.

She remembered the conversation she had had with Horatio about his love for Jessica. Her boss and friend had never been so open about his feelings before, but he had no doubt that Jessica was the woman he would be with forever.

It took another two hours, before a doctor finally told them how Horatio was doing.

"We took him to surgery to remove the bullet. He will be sore for a while." The doctor smiled, "He is resting right now and the sedatives are starting to come off."

"So he's fine?" Jesse asked to be sure.

"He will be." The doctor said, "He's in room 315. I would suggest that only a few of you see him tonight."

Everyone went to the room, but waited outside. It was without a problem decided that Jessica and Kyle should visit Horatio. The others would come back tomorrow. As Jessica entered the room, she started to cry silently. She had never seen Horatio so vulnerable before and it scared her. She had come close of losing him. Kyle seemed just as shocked as her, because he just stared at his father in the bed. Jessica sat down on a chair and grabbed Horatio's hand. She squeezed it softly. Kyle sat down on the other side of the bed.

"I've always seen him as invincible." Kyle whispered, "It never occurred to me that he's just as much human as anyone of us."

"Yeah, it's hard." Jessica nodded.

"He is quite known for putting himself in dangerous situations. And I admire him for that. But I also think he sometimes don't always realize how close he has come to die." Kyle said and wiped a few tears away.

"I don't think he had much to live for before her found you." Jessica smiled.

"Well, know he has both you and me to live for." Kyle said.

"Well, even if he does sometimes forget to care about his own safety, I'm glad that cares so much about others." Jessica said, "I wouldn't want him to change that."

"Neither would I." Kyle said and wasn't able to hold back a yawn.

Even if it wasn't very late yet, the day had been hard to go through.

"Need more coffee?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, do you?"

"Absolutely. I'm not leaving him alone tonight." Jessica said, "I will be right by his side all night."

"So will I. Although, when he wakes up he will probably tell us to go home and get some sleep." Kyle smiled and stood up to get some coffee.

"He can always try to get me out of here." Jessica grinned.

She ran her fingers through Horatio's hair and smiled. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. Jessica liked to watch him sleep if she woke up before him. She was pretty sure he liked to watch her too.

"I love you Horatio." She whispered in his ear.

Horatio stirred and managed to open his eyes halfway. Jessica kissed his check and felt him squeeze her hand softly. Horatio was still under a lot of sedatives.

"I love you too." He said quietly and then closed his eyes again.

The door opened and Kyle came back with some coffee.

"He woke up and went back to sleep." Jessica smiled.

"Good, give him a few hours and he will be more alert and grumpy." Kyle chuckled.

"He hates hospitals, huh?"

"He hates being a patient." Kyle grinned.

Jessica chuckled and caressed Horatio's cheek. After a few hours, Kyle fell asleep in the chair and Jessica started to become tired herself. She rested her head on her arms in the bed and closed her eyes for a moment. She fell asleep and didn't wake up, until she felt Horatio's move his arm to hold her around her shoulders. She smiled and looked up at him. His eyes were still closed.

Jessica looked at his bandaged upper left chest. It was where he had been shot. Jessica had never been seriously injured before and hoped she never would be either. It didn't take long for Jessica to fall asleep again and she was in such a deep sleep that she missed how Kyle took a photo of the couple with his phone. He was as crazy about taking photos to preserve memories as his father.

"Dad, you better not scare us again." Kyle whispered, "Especially not Jessica."

Horatio opened his eyes and nodded.

"Oh and by the way, after this you take her out to dinner and show her how much you love her. She deserves that after being scared by this." Kyle grinned.

Horatio gave him thumbs up and then closed his eyes again. Kyle sat back down on the chair and waited for the sun to come up. He realized how much he would miss his dad if he died, as he glanced at the wound. Horatio and Kyle might have got a bad start, but they had become closer and closer all the time. Kyle had grown a lot since that day 3 years ago. He was happy and knew he had a family that would always support him and help him. He actually thought he had a future. Before he had found his father, he had always thought he would die young. Now, he wanted to find true love like Horatio had. He wanted to have his own children and eventually pass away as a very old man.

"You should know dad, that you've saved me from an early grave." Kyle whispered and squeezed his father's hand softly.

_**Please review!**_


	11. Chapter 11

A week had passed since the shooting and Horatio was home again. Jessica was making sure he didn't disobey the orders from the doctor, which was to rest. She had barely let him out of her sight. Horatio wasn't used to being helped so much and usually he would argue with whoever took care of him to be left alone, but now he was starting to be amused by seeing Jessica act like a mother hen.

"Sweetheart, I am just going to use the bathroom. I'll be fine." Horatio smiled as he opened the bathroom door and Jessica was right by his side in just a second.

"Okay, well call me if you need anything." Jessica said.

She smiled as the door closed. She brought some of the pillows from their bed to the living room couch and decided to make some tea for herself and Horatio. They were going to watch a movie and she wanted to make sure that Horatio was comfortable.

As soon as Horatio exited the bathroom, Jessica was all over him again and lead him to the couch. Horatio chuckled as he sat down and Jessica went to get the tea.

"I am a grown man you know." Horatio smiled.

"Well, even a grown man needs to be taken care of sometimes." Jessica said and kissed Horatio's cheek.

She snuggled close to Horatio and started the movie. Halfway through the movie, Horatio fell asleep. Jessica was starting to get tired as well and decided to wake Horatio up.

"I think it's best if you sleep in the bed." She said.

Barely awake, Horatio managed to get to the bedroom before he fell asleep again in the bed. Jessica smiled and checked if he had a fever. He had developed a fever after two days at the hospital and that's why he had stayed longer than he normally would have had to.

"Dad okay?" Kyle asked from the doorway.  
"He's fine." Jessica smiled.

Kyle nodded and disappeared to the kitchen. Jessica joined him a while later and together they cooked dinner. They set the table and then Kyle woke Horatio up.

"Dad, dinner come on." He said and gently shook his father's unharmed shoulder.

"Not hungry." Horatio yawned.

"If you don't get to the kitchen in two minutes Jessica will drag you there." Kyle grinned.

Horatio didn't reply, instead his soft snoring was soon heard. Kyle shrugged and told Jessica what they had both expected; Horatio was trying to avoid eating.

"Well, we'll just drag him there then." Jessica said and grabbed the mattress.

Kyle chuckled and helped. It wasn't easy to drag a big heavy mattress with a person on, but eventually they made it to the kitchen and they heard Horatio sigh heavily.

"You can't force me to eat." He mumbled and buried his head in the pillow.

"Yes I can, I am the woman in this house." Jessica grinned, "I already let you escape from eating lunch. If you don't eat I will call Alexx."

Horatio was up before she had even finished her sentence. He sat down by the table and smiled at his son and girlfriend.

"Dinner, smells goods." He said.

"You're afraid of Alexx." Kyle smirked, "You're afraid of Alexx, you're afraid of…"

Horatio rolled his eyes as his son teased him.

"I am not afraid of Alexx, I'm afraid of what she will do to me if she finds out I'm not eating properly." Horatio said.

"Alexx is like the sweetest person in the world." Kyle said, "She wouldn't hurt a fly."

"She has a soft spot for her oldest boy." Jessica grinned.

Alexx treated everyone like they were her children, even Kyle.

"But she won't hurt him." Kyle said.

"But her threats to do it are scary." Horatio said and Kyle burst out laughing.

When Horatio groaned in pain as the pain killers wore off, Jessica gave him a glass and a pill before he could even blink. Then she made sure he swallowed the pill. Kyle chuckled at seeing his father being treated like a child.

"Just wait for the day when you get sick and you'll see what it's like to be treated like this." Horatio said and glared playfully at his son.

"I only make sure you take the pill because I know you won't swallow it if I turn my back on you." Jessica smirked, "I know all your little tricks mister."

Horatio smiled and ate most of the food on his plate. After dinner he, Kyle and Jessica dragged the mattress back to the bed. Kyle soon went to his room to study or listen to music, or whatever he felt like. Jessica filled up the bathtub for Horatio.

"I can shower on my own." Horatio smiled.

"I want to spoil you with a bath." Jessica grinned.

Horatio couldn't complain, so he sat down in the bath and rested as Jessica massaged his head and hands. Jessica liked to do massage on others. He almost fell asleep, until Jessica splashed some water in his face.

"Getting tired Red?" Jessica grinned.

"No, Blondie." Horatio teased and splashed water at Jessica.

Jessica splashed back and soon the bathroom floor was covered with water and Jessica had been pulled down in the tub to rest against Horatio's chest.

"How come every time we get close to water we end up getting each other wet?" Jessica asked.

Last time had been after an evening on the beach, when Horatio had carried her out in the ocean and dropped her in it. Jessica and Horatio had splashed each other down that time too.

"I have no idea." Horatio chuckled, "Guess we have to clean up now."

"I can do that, you should rest." Jessica said and got out of the tub, "Don't argue with me on this one Horatio, doctor's orders."

"But the doctor ain't here."

"Doesn't mean you can disobey him." Jessica smiled and gave Horatio a kiss.

Before Jessica started cleaning up the floor, she made sure Horatio was comfortable in the bed, resting. After she was done cleaning, she joined him in bed and snuggled close to him.

"Have you ever slept out under stars?" Horatio whispered.

"No."

"We should try it." Horatio smiled, "It's quite amazing."

"Now?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Horatio, your injury…"

"Will be fine sweetheart." Horatio smiled widely and stood up.

Horatio went to the basement to get a tent and two sleeping bags. He had gone camping with Raymond several times and still kept their equipment. Horatio and Jessica didn't go very far from the house. Once the tent was up, they sat and just watched the stars.

"What brought this idea on?" Jessica asked, "Why tonight?"

"Because tonight there are a lot of stars in the sky." Horatio smiled, "And because you are the star in my life that guides my way."

"You're so sweet to me!" Jessica grinned, "You are my hero."

"Really?"

"Yeah, absolutely." Jessica said, "My mom always told me the stars were fireflies that had got stuck in the big black sky when I was a kid."

"My mom said that too, but when I didn't believe her, she said it was Santa Claus and his elves."

Jessica laughed and after a while Horatio joined in.

"I used to tell Ray it was aliens waiting to get him and take him to a planet far away." Horatio smirked.

"Why did you say that?" Jessica laughed.

"Because he had got more ice cream than me one day. I told him the aliens wanted a boy that loved ice cream and it was with ice cream that they tricked their victims in to entering their space ship. He didn't eat ice cream after that until he was 12."

"How old was he when you told him that story?"

"Around 5." Horatio grinned, "The best part is that he told his friends the same story. I think I managed to scare all the little kids from eating ice cream for a long time."

"That's horrible!" Jessica laughed, "Yet funny. Didn't he ask why the aliens didn't want you?"

"Yeah and I told him it was because of my red hair." Horatio smiled, "When he understood I had been lying he poured sand in my bed."

"Did you fight a lot as kids?"

"Nah, we just like to pull pranks on each other sometimes." Horatio smiled.

Horatio and Jessica kissed deeply and were in the middle of making out when they heard footsteps from behind them.

"Are you guys going to sleep in a tent?" Kyle asked.

"Yes." Horatio said.

"You have a king size bed inside the house and you choose to sleep in a tent?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, sleeping out in the nature is good for you." Horatio said.

"You're on a beach dad."

"It's still outside."

"Why are you sleeping in a tent? Besides for the reason that it's good."

"We want to sleep under the stars." Jessica smiled.

"That sounds like taken from a romantic movie." Kyle said and rolled his eyes.

"Well, it is supposed to be romantic." Horatio grinned.

Kyle shrugged and went back inside. He preferred his warm bed. Jessica and Horatio watched the sky and the stars in silence as their eyelids got heavier and heavier. Jessica looked over at Horatio before falling asleep. He was already in deep sleep.

"I'm glad I met such a romantic man as you." Jessica whispered in his ear.

Both she and Horatio loved romance and since Horatio was very creative, she knew there would be more times when she would be blown away by what he would do and how many different ways he liked to express his feelings for her.

Jessica snuggled closely to Horatio and fell asleep.

_**Please review!**_


	12. Chapter 12

It had started as something small and escalated in to something bigger. Jessica was just having a bad day, she had been sick all morning and spent hours bent over the toilet. She was tired and cranky, so when Horatio came home late, she started snapping at him. Even though he had warned her several days ahead that he would be late this day, she couldn't help herself. Horatio took it like a gentleman, he could see she wasn't feeling well. But when he cooked food and she started complaining about most things about the food, Horatio had snapped and told her to cook her own damn food.

Now the couple were in the living room, yelling at each other. They were both glad that Kyle was spending the night at his mother's place.

"I can't like every dish you make!" Jessica yelled, "Just because I happened to dislike this one, doesn't mean I'm a witch or something."

"You complained about how the table was set and that the food had no salt in it, the water wasn't cold enough and I had come home late!" Horatio growled, "Everything was wrong according to you."

"I am entitled to have my opinions!"  
"But you don't have to say it with such an annoying tone."

"I've had a bad day, I've spent hours bent over the toilet and you weren't here!"

"You could have called me and I would have come home!"

"Oh so coming home when I'm _sick _is okay, but not coming home in time because you _love_ me and want to have dinner with me." Jessica sighed in frustration.

She knew what she said wasn't true. But her mouth didn't seem to be connected to her brain.

"I told you _a week_ ago that I had to be in court all day and most of the evening. How was I supposed to know you were sick when you didn't even call me?"

"Why didn't you call to check on me?" Jessica snapped.

"Oh please, this can go on forever. I could have done that and you could have done this. It's useless to even fight about." Horatio sighed, "Maybe you should see a doctor…"

"So now I have to see a doctor because I want my boyfriend at home for dinner or because I complained a little about the food, is that it?"

"No, maybe you should see if you have the flue or something." Horatio said and tried to calm himself down.

"And maybe you should get a job that doesn't require you to work so goddamn late!" Jessica growled and went to the bedroom and slammed the door shut.

Horatio ran a hand through his hair and knocked on the door.

"Jessica, calm down. We're fighting about useless things. We're just trying to piss each other off right now."

"Go to hell Horatio!" Jessica yelled, "I want to be alone."

"Jessica…"

"Why don't you go to work? They probably need you more than I do."

"Yeah, apparently you don't want or need me anymore!" Horatio snapped.

He put his shoes on and went outside. First he just stood outside the front door, unsure of what to do next. Both he and Jessica needed to calm down. With a heavy sigh, he drove the hummer around in the city, hoping that Jessica would call once she calmed down.

"Horatio?" Jessica asked and opened the bedroom door.

She felt anger rise inside of her again as she understood that he was gone.

"Fine, if I'm such a pain in the ass, maybe I should just leave." She growled and grabbed a bag from the closet to pack some clothes in.

As she put one item after the other in the bag, she started to realize that she was doing what she had always done before. After the first fight she would leave. Jessica knew that she always got very angry if she lost control of herself. She said things she didn't mean and her escape was always to leave. She had to change that. Horatio was the best thing that had happened to her and she knew that couples fight. Her parents also fought sometimes and they hadn't left each other because of it.

"Damn, I'm so stupid." She sighed and sat down on the bed.

She felt tears fall from her eyes and she unpacked her clothes from the bag. She was _not_ going to leave. She loved Horatio. She had just pushed his buttons today and now he had gone.

"Please come back to me Horatio." She whispered and she laid down on the bed and hugged the pillow.

Deep in her heart she knew that Horatio had just gone out to cool down. And that he had also left so that _she_ could cool down. Jessica and Horatio had only been together for four months now, but it felt like they had always been together. Jessica felt bad for yelling at Horatio.

**-I-**

Horatio had ended up outside Frank's apartment. He didn't know how he had got there, but there he was and his friend invited him in. Frank knew how hard it could be to fight with someone you loved. But, sometimes fights meant that couples could grow even closer than before.

"You and Jessica had a fight?" Frank asked.

"How did you know?"

"You have the look of anger and defeat in your eyes." Frank said, "You're still slightly pissed at her and want to stay away to get back at her. But on the same time you want to surrender and go home to just see her."

"I should go home."

"Maybe you should call and see if she's willing to let you inside the house." Frank said.

"It's my house."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Frank asked.

"What?"

"_Your _house." Frank said, "You asked her to move and she's lived with you for two months. Yet you still consider it to be _your_ house."

"I bought it…"

"But she lives with you there. It's also Kyle's house." Frank said.

He knew that Horatio still had an ounce of fear inside of him and that's why he still referred to the beach house as _his_ house. Especially now that he had had a fight with Jessica.

"I um… I've lived there alone for so long." Horatio said.

"Yes, but as soon as Marisol set her foot there you called it her house as well." Frank said.

He was trying to get through to Horatio and for his friend to open up to him. The red head was always very private.

"I know." Horatio sighed, "I gave everything I had to Marisol."

"Was it worth it?"

"I don't know, we got so little time together."

"And deep inside you're worried that Jessica will leave." Frank said, "You won't call it her house until a certain amount of time has passed."

"I don't want to have that feeling of it being _our_ house and then she will leave and it will be just _my_ house _again_." Horatio sighed.

"Love hurts H, but if you don't give your heart to Jessica then you risk causing problems for the two of you."

"I know, I know. I just have a wall around my heart that tells me to slow down and wait for just a while longer to pass."

"So referring to the house as _yours_, is only a way of expressing your fear of being alone again." Frank said, "Tell me, what is your future with Jessica? What does it look like?"

"We get married and have children. Then we stay with each other until our dying day." Horatio said firmly.

"What was your future view of your relationship with Julia?"

Horatio frowned for a while. He had never seen himself having a long future with Julia. He had seen himself being with her for a couple of years, but he always knew that in the end they would split up.

"That I would get to be with her for a few years at least." Horatio said.

"And with Marisol?"

"That she would want to be with me until I got too old."

"Well, Marisol loved you very much. She told Eric that she would never leave you." Frank said, "Jessica has said the same thing."

"I've had other girlfriends say the same thing and yet they have still left."

"I know you're afraid of being left alone." Frank said, "But what is different with Jessica from the other girls you've dated?"

"That she's given herself to me completely. That she has opened up to me." Horatio said.

"Don't you think you should do the same? Even if it's scary." Frank smiled.

Horatio nodded. Frank always knew what he was feeling and thinking. And he always knew how to get through to Horatio's thick skull.

"I should go home and talk to her." Horatio said.

"You should give her your heart. I know you say you can trust her with your heart, but _saying_ and _doing _are different things." Frank smiled, "Now you got to_ do_ just that."

"I will." Horatio smiled, "Thanks Frank."

"Anytime."

Frank smiled as Horatio left and he heard the hummer drive off. It was time for Horatio to _really_ take the step and give his heart to Jessica. She was the one for him. _Horatio had to face his fears._

**-I-**

Jessica was sleeping in the bed, hugging the pillow when Horatio got home. He sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. Jessica stirred and pulled Horatio in to a hug when she saw him.

"I'm so, so sorry!" Jessica cried, "I've just had a bad day and I said things I didn't mean. I was just so tired and had to take it out on someone."

"I'm sorry too." Horatio said, "I um, I talked to Frank some."

"He didn't threaten to beat some sense in to me did he?" Jessica smiled.

"No, he um, told me to not only _say_ that I could trust you with my heart, but to actually do it." Horatio said, "To face my fears of being left alone."

"I will never leave you." Jessica said, "I packed a bag after you left, because that's what I would have done _if_ you would have been one of my ex-boyfriends. But then I just realized, that you are you. You're Horatio and I don't want run away from you."

"And I realized that you're Jessica and that you're the woman that should know _everything_ about me." Horatio smiled and kissed Jessica deeply.

"I love you Horatio, I really do."

"I love you too." Horatio smiled.

Jessica and Horatio laid down in the bed and snuggled closely. Horatio started telling Jessica about his past and his fears. Jessica did the same to him. As they talked they could feel their love grow and they both fell asleep with a smile.

_**Please review!**_


	13. Chapter 13

Kyle hadn't been home during the fight three days earlier, but he knew something had made Jessica and Horatio become even closer than before, if that was even possible. Kyle couldn't imagine a closer couple. He watched as Horatio gave Jessica a kiss on the cheek by the milk counter. The little trio was grocery shopping and Kyle had decided to tag along. He remembered what his father's fridge had looked like before he met Jessica. Empty. Sometimes there was a chicken there or some pasta. But mostly Horatio and Kyle ate take-out. Now a days, the fridge was filled with food. Jessica was a person that usually planned dinner a few days ahead and she made sure that there was always food at home.

When they got to the candy section, Jessica looked like she was ready to throw up right there. Kyle had noticed that she wasn't feeling her best anymore. She had been sick for almost two weeks. She had gone to see a doctor, but was still waiting for some test results to come in.

"Maybe instead of candy you could eat fruit?" Horatio suggested when he saw the look in Jessica's eyes.

"I'll be glad if I can eat anything." Jessica sighed.

"I'm sorry sweetheart."

"It's not your fault." Jessica smiled, "I am going to get some medicine from the pharmacy, so um, why don't you boys go ahead and pay for our things?"

"Sure." Horatio said and kissed Jessica goodbye.

Kyle was starting to get worried about Jessica. She was family and he hated it when someone in his family weren't feeling well.

"Dad, are you sure everything is fine with Jessica?" Kyle asked.

"I don't know what's wrong, but let's hope her doctor can find out." Horatio sighed.

Horatio and Kyle paid for the groceries and then waited outside the pharmacy for Jessica. Both men hoped that she would soon be well. Jessica was also getting tired of being sick, she could barely work during the days, so she only worked when she had to coach her team. All the paperwork she had simply had to wait.

"All done guys." She smiled.

"I'm hungry." Kyle sighed.

"We'll buy some take-away on the way home." Horatio smiled.

Everything went fine on the drive home until Jessica smelled the food Kyle was eating and ordered Horatio to pull over. She opened the car door and ran to a ditch to empty her stomach. Horatio was holding her hair back from her face and gently caressed her back.

"Sweetheart, I'm starting to worry." Horatio said, "This is not healthy."

"I know." Jessica panted.

"Maybe Alexx can see if something is wrong." Horatio said.

"I clearly doubt anyone can figure out what is wrong." Jessica sighed heavily and leaned against Horatio.

"If this isn't over in three days, you should let Alexx take a look."

"I promise I will." Jessica said and then bent over again.

Kyle had thrown his food away to prevent Jessica from throwing up again once she got back in the car. The rest of the drive home was in silence and once they arrived home, Jessica ran inside the house to use the bathroom again.

"Dad… this can't go on." Kyle said.

"I know, son."

Father and son carried the bags of groceries inside and Jessica exited the bathroom. She sighed and took a glass of water. Then she helped put all the food in the fridge and freezer.

"I'm sorry my food made you throw up again." Kyle said.

"It's not your fault, Kyle." Jessica smiled, "It's just my body that has decided to punish me for God knows what."

"Maybe you have a virus." Horatio said.

"God, I hope not." Jessica sighed.

**-I-**

Jessica got better in the evening and managed to keep some dinner in the stomach. She was still exhausted though. Once she had been in the bathroom for so long that Horatio and Kyle had gotten worried. Jessica was just so tired. Tired of being sick. Tired because she couldn't sleep. And she couldn't sleep because she was so sick.

"You parents called. If you're not better this weekend, they're coming down here." Horatio said.

Jessica was lying on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and watching the TV. Horatio noticed that she had become thinner and it scared him.

"They can't help me get better." Jessica sighed.

"No, but they can definitely be here to support you." Horatio said and snuggled close to her.

"Maybe I give you the bug and you get sick if your too close." Jessica said.

"I would have gotten it already then." Horatio said and ran his fingers through her hair, something he knew Jessica liked.

"Do you want a massage?" He asked.

"I would love to."

Horatio did his best at massaging Jessica's back and shoulders. She moaned in pleasure and almost fell asleep. Horatio left soft kisses on her back smiled as she sighed softly.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Much better." Jessica yawned.

She fell asleep in Horatio's arms. Horatio held her close and caressed her back. Jessica didn't get much sleep, because she quickly got hungry again. She was able to keep the food in her stomach the second time as well.

**-I-**

Kyle smiled as he saw Jessica eat again. Maybe the virus or whatever it was, was leaving after all. Kyle decided to take a shower and it was then he noticed something in the small trashcan in the bathroom. Normally he wouldn't check what was there, but this little object caught his eye. It was a stick of some kind and as he read what stood on it, his eyes widened and he smiled widely. _It was a pregnancy stick and it was positive!_

Just as Kyle was about to run out of the bathroom and hug Jessica and Horatio, he realized he was naked. He laughed at himself and took a quick shower. Then he went out with the stick still in his hands.

"I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow again." Jessica sighed, "Hopefully, he'll be able to tell me what's going on."

Kyle glanced at his father. It didn't seem as if Horatio knew that Jessica was pregnant. Maybe Jessica didn't want him to know until a doctor had confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. Kyle hid the stick behind his back and managed to control his happiness.

"I see you're eating again." He smiled.

"Yeah, I am." Jessica grinned.

Kyle glanced between the couple. He knew Horatio would be a great father, because he had been to him. Kyle wanted to scream of joy and let Horatio know that he was becoming a father again and that this time he got to be there from the start. But he knew it was up to Jessica to tell him.

"I'll fill up the bathtub for you." Horatio smiled and went to the bathroom.

Kyle sat down across the table from Jessica and placed the stick on the table.

"Kyle…"

"You haven't told him yet, have you?"

"I want a doctor to confirm it first. That's why I'm going to see him tomorrow." Jessica said.

"I hope he confirms it." Kyle smiled.

Jessica grinned and nodded. Kyle hid the stick just as Horatio entered the kitchen again. Horatio didn't notice.

"Ready to take a warm, relaxing bath?" He asked Jessica.

Jessica nodded and stood up. As Horatio gave Jessica a bath. Kyle looked at the stick again.

"I'm going to be a big brother." He said quietly.

Since Jessica wanted to tell Horatio herself and wanted to confirm her pregnancy first, Kyle decided to take the stick out and throw it in the garbage can right away. That way, Horatio wouldn't find it.

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	14. Chapter 14

Horatio couldn't understand why Jessica was smiling when he dropped her off at her doctor's office.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked for the third time.

"Horatio, honey, I am fine." Jessica smiled, "I feel better and I'm happy because the virus might finally be gone."

Horatio nodded and gave her a small smile. However, he still couldn't understand how she could have changed from miserable one day and happy the next. Kyle was also happy at home and Horatio just couldn't figure out why. Jessica hadn't told Horatio that she was possibly pregnant and she was going to do an ultrasound in just a minute.

"Okay, well, I have to go to work… are you sure you don't want me to go in with you?" Horatio asked.

"I'm sure. I will be fine." Jessica smiled and gave Horatio a kiss.

Jessica had an idea on how to tell Horatio she was pregnant if the doctor confirmed it. When Horatio left, Jessica went inside the office and greeted her doctor. As she laid down on the stretcher she started getting butterflies in the stomach. She was nervous yet happy. She really hoped she was pregnant.

At first it didn't seem as if the doctor found anything and Jessica started to get sad that the home pregnancy test and had showed wrong.

"There she or he is." The doctor smiled.

His name was Elijah Daniels and Jessica had known him for years.

"I'm really pregnant?" Jessica asked, tears in her eyes.

"Yes you are. I would say you're 5 weeks along." Elijah smiled, "Have you told the father yet?"

"Not yet. Um, could I get a picture from the ultrasound?"

Elijah nodded and Jessica grinned. _She was pregnant!_

**-I-**

Horatio managed to focus on his job, even if he was worried about Jessica. His team knew she had been ill for about two weeks and they knew how worried Horatio was. However, that was about to change. The team worked on two crime scenes until lunch and while the team were on their way out, they met Jessica.

"Hi, could I eat with you?" She asked.

"Absolutely." Alexx smiled, "How are you feeling baby?"

Jessica grinned widely at the word _baby_ and almost told everyone right there. However, she wanted Horatio to know first.

"Better, the doctor says I'm going to be fine."

"Glad to hear that." Alexx said.

The team went to a small diner close to the lab and while they ate, the team slowly started to realize that Jessica had something to say to Horatio and based on the smile in her face, it was good news.

"What did Dr. Daniels say?" Horatio asked.

"He said, I might be morning sick for a few more weeks, but that it will pass." Jessica smiled.

By now Alexx had figured out exactly what was "wrong" with Jessica. In fact it wasn't something wrong, it was something good. Alexx grinned widely and winked at Jessica, letting her know she knew what she meant.

"Then how can you be feeling so good?" Horatio asked.

Frank looked confused between the couple and then realized that when his ex-wife had been pregnant with their children she had also been morning sick for a few weeks. He almost gasped as he realized that Jessica was carrying a baby!

"Because I know it will pass and because I guess I don't feel so miserable about it anymore." Jessica said.

"Okay." Horatio shrugged.

He still couldn't figure out why Alexx and Frank were grinning like fools and he seemed to be the only one not understanding anything. Had he lost his touch of reading people? No, he just didn't treat Jessica like a suspect and his worry about her health was overshadowing the fact that she had already left clues as to what was going on.

"He did say I'll get hungrier in a few weeks though, as if I would be eating for two." Jessica said and glanced at Horatio.

Horatio still had confusion written all over his face and Alexx almost felt like smacking him. She knew that it was harder for him to catch the clues that Jessica said, because he was still worried she would become more sick.

"Well, you did lose a lot of food in the last two weeks." Horatio said.

Calleigh and Natalia giggled, it was so fun watching their boss completely unaware that Jessica and him were going to become parents!

After lunch, Jessica handed Horatio an envelope and then went home. She told him not to open it until he was in his office. While she was at home she was waiting for him to call. Horatio frowned as he looked at the envelope. Was Jessica hiding something?

"Okay." He muttered to himself and wait straight to his office.

Just as he was about the envelope, Rick Stetler burst through the door.

"Horatio, did you know that one of the officers on the Hanniger-scene today was a drug dealer?" Rick asked.

Horatio placed the envelope on the desk.

"No."

"Well, he just got caught selling drugs." Rick said, "He was the first officer on the scene too."

"He might have been the killer." Horatio said, "Let's go talk to officer…"

"Seth Banner." Rick said.

Horatio had to let the envelope wait and do his job. He and Rick interrogated the officer and it turned out that he was only the first one the scene because the victim was one of his clients and he wanted to remove possible evidence that could expose him.

When the interrogation was finished, Horatio sat down by his desk again and was just about to open the envelope a second time, when the door opened and Cooper walked in with some new evidence in the second case that day.

"Alright, let's see what we got." Horatio sighed.

It took an hour to watch what Cooper had and when that was done, Horatio got called out to a crime scene again. He didn't come back to the lab, until four and he sighed heavily as he sat down.

"Please let me open this envelope." He muttered and opened it.

A little picture fell out and Horatio's eyes widened as he understood what kind of a picture it was. It was an ultrasound picture and even though a baby wasn't very visible, Horatio knew what Jessica had been leaving hints about during lunch. She was pregnant!

Horatio called their house immidiately.

"_Hello_." Jessica answered.

"Are you really pregnant?" Horatio asked.

"_You finally saw the picture huh?_" Jessica chuckled.

"I was interrupted several times. Are you?"

"_Yes, I am 5 weeks pregnant!_" Jessica grinned.

The phone went quiet and for a moment Jessica thought Horatio had passed out.

"_Hello?_" She asked, "_Horatio?_"

"I'm going to be a dad again?" He asked quietly.

Jessica could hear that he was on the verge of tears and she started to cry silently.

"_Yeah, you really are going to be a dad again._" Jessica smiled.

She knew Horatio was so happy that he didn't know what to say, because he was so silent.

"Wow…" Horatio said, "I'm going to be a dad."

Jessica chuckled and wiped a tears away.

"And you're going to be a mom." Horatio said, "We're having a baby!"

"_We sure are._" Jessica smiled, "_Oh god, I am so happy Horatio!_"

"Can I tell everyone I know?" Horatio asked.

"_You can shout it out if you want to._" Jessica laughed, "_I'll call my brother and tell him the good news._"

"I love you so much and I am just going to let my team know and I'll be on my way home!" Horatio grinned.

"_Love you too._" Jessica smiled and hung up.

Horatio looked at the photo again and grinned widely. It was his and Jessica's baby! Not only was he going to be a father again, but he would also have the chance to be there from the start. He knew Kyle was going to be so happy!

Horatio left his office and found his team in the break room. He put the picture on the table. The girls and Frank had already known, but Ryan, Jesse and Walter hadn't understood either that Jessica was pregnant at lunch.

"Oh my! Jessica's pregnant!" Alexx gasped and pretended that she hadn't known.

"You figured it out before me." Horatio grinned.

Everybody gave him a hug and the boys patted his back.

"Guess we'll be hearing about you changing diapers soon and being up late with a crying baby." Jesse smirked.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Horatio smiled.

"I am so happy for you and Jessica!" Calleigh shrieked, "We have to have a baby shower!"

"And you have to think of names." Walter smiled.

"Whoa, slow down, we have to tell everyone first. Kyle needs to know and her parents and brother." Horatio said.

"This is going to be so exciting!" Natalia and Calleigh grinned.

"You realize the baby will be spoiled extremely much by his or hers parents, the uncle and aunts?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I know." Horatio chuckled.

The door opened and a confused Eric asked what was going on. Since he didn't work at the lab, but at the state attorney's office, he hadn't been with them during lunch.

"I'm going to be a dad." Horatio smiled.

"No way!" Eric exclaimed and gave Horatio a hug, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks. Now, I have to get home to my pregnant girlfriend and my son." Horatio grinned.

The team watched him leave and the girls sat down to discuss what they though Jessica and Horatio would name their baby.

"Maybe Jr." Natalia said.

"Maybe, but I think Horatio once mentioned that if he had a second son he would want to name him Kevin or Tobey." Alexx said, "But it was a long time ago."

**-I-**

As soon as Horatio came home he picked Jessica up from the ground and hugged and kissed her hard.

"You have just made me the happiest man on earth." He grinned.

"Well, we both made this baby so you helped make me the happiest woman on earth." Jessica chuckled.

"Wow, you'll be having mood swings and cravings." Horatio smiled, "I actually look forward to that."

The front door opened and Kyle looked confused between his father and Jessica. Kyle had found the home pregnancy test, but he had no idea that the doctor had confirmed it in the morning.

"Kyle, you're going to be a big brother!" Horatio smiled.

"Really?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, prepare for diapers and late night cries." Jessica grinned.

Kyle hugged both Jessica and Horatio and then looked at the ultrasound photo that Horatio had brought home with him.

"How far along are you?" He asked.

"5 weeks." Jessica smiled, "My brother Henry was so excited to hear that I'm pregnant. He's been waiting for the chance to be an uncle."

Jessica hadn't told her parents yet, because she knew what her father would say. Horatio also knew this. They would go up to them in two weeks and then they would find out. The baby would also have the team members as uncles and aunts. And he or she was definetely going to be spoiled, if not by Jessica, Horatio and Kyle, then definetely by Calleigh and Alexx. The others would probably join them soon as well.

"Wow, me… a big brother." Kyle grinned, "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, son." Horatio smiled.

"Thanks Kyle." Jessica grinned.

As the trio ate dinner, they talked about names and how exciting it would be to feel the baby kick. Kyle didn't look forward to waiting so long for his little sister or brother to arrive.

"Time goes faster than you think." Horatio smiled.

Later that night, Horatio and Jessica were lying in bed. Horatio caressed her belly.

"There's a person growing inside of you." Horatio smiled, "A life that we created. A baby."

"It's amazing." Jessica grinned, "I'll become big as a whale."

"A sexy whale." Horatio chuckled and gave Jessica a soft kiss.

"We have to get a nursery." Jessica said.

"I have an empty guest room right next to our bedroom, I can make that a nursery." Horatio smiled.

They both fell asleep with thoughts of how fun it would be to buy things for a nursery and for the baby. They dreamed about how amazing it would be to raise their child. To watch him or her grow up.

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	15. Chapter 15

Jessica was now 7 weeks pregnant. She, Horatio and Kyle were on their way up to see Jessica's parents and tell them about the pregnancy. Jessica knew her father wouldn't be so happy at first, she was unsure of what her mother would think. Kyle was excited to meet Jessica's parents and brother. From what he had understood Clark, Jessica's father, could be a little overprotective of Jessica and hadn't been so convinced about her and Horatio's relationship at first. Kyle had also been told that Henry would be like the big brother Kyle had always wanted.

"So do you think they'll accept me to the family?" Kyle asked.

"Of course. My father will probably have the hardest time doing that though, but that's because he hasn't fully accepted Horatio as family yet either. Horatio is still _just_ my boyfriend and not a future son-in-law." Jessica said, "My mother will adopt right away. She is so much like Alexx that way."

Kyle grinned. He was looking forward to the meeting. He was nervous to meet Clark though. He knew Jessica wasn't trying to scare him, but she just wanted him to be warned about what kind of a man her father could be sometimes.

When they pulled up on the drive-way Kyle looked at the big house. It the kind of house he had always wanted and it reminded him of Alexx's house. It looked cozy. Kyle was like a brother to Alexx's children and like a son to Alexx and her husband. It wasn't that Kyle didn't get along with Julia, but he had been taken under the wings by the whole team and their children. Alexx was sort of an extra-mom for Kyle, when he felt he needed her. The trio got out of the car and rang the doorbell. Henry was the one who opened the door and he grinned and hugged both Jessica and Horatio. Then he turned to Kyle.

"I can see you're H's son." He smiled, "I'm Henry."

"Kyle." Kyle smiled and shook hands with the older man.

"How old are you? 23, 25, 15?"

"19." Kyle smiled proudly, "And you are what? 29, 45, 51?"

The adults laughed and Henry ruffled Kyle's hair.

"I like you already kid." He said, "So, mom and dad are in the kitchen waiting for the about-to-become mom and dad."

"Alright, I don't think you need to be here for this Kyle. My dad is going to get angry." Jessica sighed.

"I'll take him and the Buick out for a ride." Henry grinned.

Horatio chuckled and gave him the car keys to the Buick. Henry and Kyle were out the door in a second and soon the car was gone as well.

"Henry is going to teach him so many bad stuff." Jessica laughed and grabbed Horatio's hand as they walked to the kitchen.

Jessica's mother, Irene, knew something was up and it was probably serious. She hugged her daughter and Horatio and then they all sat down by the kitchen table.

"So how are things going for you?" She asked.

"Very good mom. We're happy." Jessica smiled and glanced at Horatio.

She knew that after only four and a half month together, having a baby was a shock to most people and maybe it had happened a bit fast. But Horatio and Jessica wouldn't want to change anything. They had figured out that the baby had been conceived after a night when they had been in a hurry and forgot to use protection.

"Something on your mind?" Clark asked.

"I'm pregnant." Jessica said, without hesitation.

Clark and Irene were stunned for a moment, before Irene hugged her daughter.

"Congratulations. I can't say I don't think it's a little too soon, but you to have already proven that you love each other so many times." She smiled, "I've always wanted to be a grandmother!"

"You've only been together four and a half month." Clark sighed, "Can't you wait?"

"You want me to take the baby away?" Jessica asked angrily.

"Yes."

"Clark!" Irene gasped, "How can you say that?"

"It's too soon!"

"Sir, with all due respect, you don't get to make that choice." Horatio said, "It's _our_ relationship and _our_ baby, we decide if it's too soon."

"She is my daughter!" Clark exclaimed.

"She is 34 years old!" Horatio growled, "She is a grown woman and can make her own decisions."

"It doesn't mean she makes the right one."

"Well being older than her doesn't mean you make the right decision either." Horatio said.

"Did you plan this baby?" Clark asked.

"No, I got pregnant after a night when we just forgot protection. But even if it wasn't planned, it doesn't mean it's mistake." Jessica said, "Dad, did you plan to have Henry?"

Clark shook his head. Henry hadn't been planned, but at least he and Irene had been together for two years when they had found out they were having Henry.

"Irene and I had been dating for two years back then." Clark said, "That's different."

"Dad, why can't you ever be happy for me?!" Jessica yelled and then walked away.

She went to what had been her old room and slammed the door shut. Horatio remained in the kitchen as Irene ordered Clark to take a walk. Irene sat down across Horatio.

"I am happy for the two of you." Irene smiled and Horatio nodded.

"Jessica told me about Sally." Horatio said.

Irene nodded. The memory of her youngest daughter's death was still to close and too fresh for her to talk about. Even after so many years, she felt it was just too difficult.

"I'm glad she did." Irene whispered, "Clark worries Jessica will make choices that she'll regret later."

"Has she so far?"

"Maybe sometimes when she chose to date some guys, but she's strong and she didn't stay with those guys for long."

"I love her very much. I want to do everything I can to make her happy."

"I know. Clark knows that too, but he's just too stubborn sometimes." Irene said, "So, have you thought of any names?"

Horatio chuckled. Irene was the kind of woman that could make anyone smile she knew how to comfort people.

"Sophia if it's a girl and Kevin if it's a boy." Horatio smiled.

"Are you two hoping for a specific gender?"

"Nope. We would raise our baby the same no matter what the gender is." Horatio said, even though he and Jessica hadn't talked about it yet.

"Good. That's what Clark and I have done. Clark just doesn't seem to be so overprotective of Henry as he is of Jessica." Irene said, "But he really looks after Henry just as much."

"Henry took my son Kyle out for a drive."

"I noticed we were two people short in here." Irene smiled, "He's home from the army, huh?"

"Yeah he is."

"I look forward to meeting him. I think you will be a great father." Irene smiled.

"Thank you. Jessica will be a great mother as well."

"Oh yes, she will." Irene nodded, "Is that a car I hear screeching?"

Horatio and Irene went to the front door and looked outside as they saw Henry drive down the street, turning with the car and making it screech. Kyle was laughing in the passenger seat. After while, Henry parked the car in the drive-way again.

"You have the coolest son ever!" Kyle exclaimed as he got out of the car.

"Thank you." Irene chuckled.

"Sorry if I did anything to your car Horatio." Henry said, "I just wanted to show the kid some of my moves."

"It's fine. It'll be his one day." Horatio grinned.

"Hi, Mrs. Stanley, I'm Kyle Harmon."

"Hello Kyle, you can call me Irene."

Everyone went inside and after a while Jessica came down from her old room. Kyle understood that Jessica and her father had argued. Clark was still not home.

"He's taking a long walk." Henry said.

"He's got a lot to think about." Irene said, "Alright, dinner is ready in ten minutes."

While waiting for dinner, Kyle and Henry talked about school and future work. Henry and Kyle had developed a strong bond in only an hour. Just as dinner was ready, Clark walked in and hugged his daughter.

"I'm sorry. I still think it's a bit soon, but you are happy and that is what's important to me." Clark smiled.

"Aw, I love these family reunions." Henry grinned and receive a playful kick to the leg from Jessica.

"Don't tease a pregnant woman." Kyle smirked.

"Oh yeah, Horatio you'll be dealing with mood swings." Clark chuckled and remembered how Irene had been, "When Irene was pregnant she cried one moment and threw something at me the next."

"Almost like dealing with criminal, huh dad?" Kyle winked.

"No, criminals skip the crying." Horatio smirked, "I can handle the mood swings. I hope."

"You have no choice." Jessica smiled.

Later at night Henry had gone home to his place and Kyle was asleep in Henry's old room. Jessica and Horatio were, as always, in her old room, but they were not asleep. Horatio was caressing Jessica's belly. He couldn't wait to see it grow.

"You won't think I'm ugly if I get stretch marks will you?" Jessica asked, although she already knew the answer.

"No, why would I? You're beautiful Jessica. With or without stretch marks."

"Just checking." Jessica grinned.

Horatio gave her a soft kiss and Jessica snuggled closer to him.

"Are you hoping for any specific gender?" Jessica asked.

"No, it doesn't matter to me. Even if we had three children and they were all girls or all boys, it still wouldn't matter." Horatio smiled.

"I feel the same way. You won't raise them differently either will you? Depending on the gender I mean?"

"No, no. I don't believe that if we have a girl I won't be able to do manly things with her. It's not true. If you raise children the same way and don't treat them differently depending on the gender, then it won't be such a big crack between girl stuff and guy stuff." Horatio said.

"Good." Jessica grinned, "I think, however, that I will be the tough parent and you'll be the softie."

Horatio chuckled. Both of them knew it wasn't true. Jessica would also be a softie at times and Horatio would be tough sometimes.

"Well, it's hard to get angry at kids." Horatio said, "Just look at Kyle, I can't get mad at him."

"He gives you the puppy-look, the one you do as well." Jessica said, "He's got you wrapped around his finger."

"That's true!" Horatio laughed.

They both knew without a doubt that their child would have both her or his parent's and big brother wrapped around his finger. Kyle had told Jessica and Horatio how protective he already felt for the little one. There was no doubt that the baby would grow up in a big loving family.

_**Please review!**_


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: I guess the rating for this chapter is T. **

At 10 weeks pregnant, Jessica wasn't showing yet and she wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing when three masked men burst through the doors to the bank with guns and fired at the roof. They ordered everyone down on the floor on their stomachs. Jessica tried to remain calm; she didn't want to lose the baby because of the stress. She had just come to the bank to open an account for the baby, where she and Horatio could put money every month for college or for when their child needed a good start by the time her or she moved away from home.

"Everyone keep your mouths shut or we'll shoot!" One of the robbers ordered.

They grabbed a desk clerk and forced him to the vault to open it. When he nervously said he didn't have the clearance to open the vault, they knocked him down and then shot at the door.

Some people screamed as they fired. Jessica tried to remember what kind of clothes they were wearing and what shoes they had on. She remembered how Horatio had told her it was important to know as much as possible about suspects, even if it seemed like some small and unimportant, it could be a big break in the case.

_Black leather boots, black beetle boots and white sneakers._ She thought.

"Please let me go home!" A woman cried.

The man with the black leathers boots, who was obviously the leader, told her to be quiet or he'd put a bullet in her head.

"Cops are coming." The sneakers guy said.

Jessica sighed in relief. She hoped that Horatio or someone in his team would be outside the bank.

"Shit." The leather man cursed and then grabbed another desk clerk.

This one was a woman and she was ordered to call the bank manager. When she called the number and an old man's cell phone rang, the leather man smirked evilly. He pushed the woman down on the floor and grabbed the bank manager's shirt.

"Open the vault." He growled.

"I… I, I"

The leather man hit him in the face with the gun and dragged him towards the vault. Jessica was taking deep breaths to calm herself down, but it was hard. Never in a million years had she thought she would become the victim of a bank robbery.

The bank manager was bleeding from a broken nose as he opened the vault. The leather man and the sneakers guy went in and emptied the boxes. The beetle boots guy waited outside.

"There's no money in here!" The sneakers guy growled.

"We can sell the watches and rings." The leather man said.

They stepped outside the vault and glanced at the police outside. One of the officers were telling them to put the guns down and come out with their hands above their heads.

"Is he stupid? We're not coming out." The sneakers guy chuckled, "Not without protection."

"What about escaping through the roof?" The beetle boots man suggested.

"And then what? Then we're stuck up there." The leather man growled.

Jessica glanced towards the police and prayed that Horatio was there. The three bank robbers went behind the cash desks and started looking for cash. They didn't find much and just to show how angry they were, they fired at the roof again. Everyone in the hostage were hoping that this would soon be over. They couldn't be more wrong.

**-I-**

Since CSIs usually weren't called to hostage situations, Horatio had no idea that the bank Jessica was in had been robbed and that she was held hostage. He was talking with Ryan about some trace found in their latest case.

"You guys hear about the robbery?" Walter asked from the doorway.

"Robbery?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, some bank in Miami was robbed thirty minutes ago. The police are outside since the three robbers are still in the bank." Walter said, "It's amazing what people will do for money."

"Well, they'll have to give up eventually." Ryan said.

"It's all over the news." Walter said.

Horatio got a bad feeling in his gut and went to the break room. Walter glanced confused at Ryan and then they followed their boss. Ryan had worked with Horatio long enough to know that his boss and friend always knew when something was wrong.

Horatio's eyes widened as he watched Erica Sykes report about the ongoing bank robbery downtown. He recognized the bank and realized that Jessica was one of the hostages.

"Jessica is there." He said, "Unless she is still home."

Horatio called the house, if Jessica was among the hostages he didn't want to risk her life by calling her cell phone.

"Shit! Frank is there, call him and ask if he can see Jessica with binoculars." Ryan said to Walter.

As Walter called Frank, Horatio grew more and more nervous. Jessica wasn't answering at home and it only took twenty minutes to drive to the bank. He had no doubt in his mind that she was held hostage.

"I have to get over there." Horatio said and went to the garage.

Walter and Ryan followed and Walter talked to Frank on the phone.

"Frank, says he can't see Jessica." Walter said, "However, it seems as if the entire hostage is hiding behind desks and plants."

Horatio, Ryan and Walter drove to the bank and Horatio walked straight to Frank when he arrived at the scene.

"I can't see her. I see some hands and feet sticking out here and there, but no faces." Frank sighed, "It doesn't seem as if these guys are going to give up either."

"Where is SWAT?" Horatio asked.

"On the way." Frank said, "They'll get in the roof way."

Horatio nodded and ran a hand through his hair. He feared to lose both Jessica and they baby. With the kind of stress a trauma like being held hostage could cause, she could easily have a miscarriage.

"Jessica will be fine. She knows that has to try and stay calm." Frank said and patted Horatio's shoulder.

"Well, knowing it and actually doing it in a situation like this is not the same thing." Horatio sighed, "I have to call her parents and brother."

**-I-**

After three hours, SWAT was on the roof and Frank was on the phone with the leather man, giving him ten minutes to give up or they would come in. The robbers didn't seem to have noticed that SWAT had arrived.

"We're not giving up!" The leather man yelled and hung up the phone.

Jessica didn't know Frank was on the other end of course and she didn't know SWAT was on the roof either. She was hiding behind a plant.

"How do we get out?" The beetle boots guy asked.

"We take these people on the floor as a shield." The leather man said.

Jessica's eyes widened as the man grabbed her and held her in front of him. The sneakers guy grabbed another woman and the beetle boots guy grabbed a young man. Jessica started walking towards the door when she felt a gun press against her back. She opened the door and looked around to see if she recognized anyone. She saw Ryan and Horatio.

"Let them go and this will all end happy." Frank said.

Jessica glanced at him and then she also saw Walter. She heared that the other woman was begging for the sneakers guy to let her go because she was pregnant.

"We want a car and a safe way out of here!" The leather man yelled.

"Not going to happen." Frank said.

Just then the beetle boots man raised his gun to shoot the young man in front of him. As he aimed at the head, SWAT took him out with a bullet to the back. The young man was too afraid to move, so he stayed where he was.

"That was a warning to you too, now let them go!" Frank growled.

"Please, I'm pregnant." The other woman cried.

The sneakers guy started to back away towards the bank again and soon the leather man followed.

"Take one more step and we'll shoot." Frank warned.

Jessica saw her chance and kicked the leather man where it hurts the most for a man. He groaned in pain and fell back. She ran towards the cops and just as the leather man was about to aim his gun at her, he was shot by SWAT in the back as well.

Jessica ran towards Horatio and jumped up in his arms. He kissed her hard and Jessica started crying. The sneakers guy let go of the pregnant woman and lay down on the ground. He was quickly arrested.

"I was so scared Horatio!" Jessica sobbed, "I could only think of you and the baby."

"Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry I didn't go with you." Horatio said and held her close, "You have to go to the hospital and get checked out."

Jessica nodded. She rode with Horatio to the hospital. She was quickly examined and while she gave her statement to Frank, Horatio went to the rest of the team out in the waiting area.

"How is she?" Alexx asked.

"Shock up. The baby is fine though." Horatio sighed, "She's giving Frank her statement right now."

"The young man was so shocked they had to give him something to calm down." Ryan said.

"And the other woman?" Horatio asked.

"Fine. She went home not long ago with her husband." Walter said.

"And the robbers?" Horatio asked.

"The first one who was shot died in the ER. The other is alive. And the third is in a holding cell." Jesse smiled, "We got them good. The other hostages have all given the same statement and well, we got surveillance cameras inside the bank and news reporters outside. Everything was caught on tape."

"Guess we'll be seeing Erica Sykes face on TV in no time." Natalia muttered.

"Maybe not. The tape in the camera went mysteriously missing." Walter grinned.

"You didn't?!" Calleigh gasped.

Walter took out a tape from his pocket and grinned. The team laughed. When Frank came back he smiled and said that Jessica was up for visitors. The team went to her room and she smiled as the women hugged her.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Alexx asked.

"Still shocked, but I'll be fine." Jessica smiled.

Horatio sat down on the edge of the bed and held her hand.

"Have you told Kyle?" Jesse asked.

"He's been in school having tests all day, we didn't want to interrupt him." Jessica said, "We'll pick him up from school and tell him then."

"So the doctor said you could leave already?" Alexx asked.

Jessica blushed and shook her head. The doctor had wanted to keep her for a few hours, but Jessica had been stubborn and didn't want to stay. She wanted to go home and be with Horatio and Kyle. She wanted a home cooked meal and a little family time with games and fun.

"You're as bad as Horatio!" Calleigh laughed, "Always managing to talk your way out of staying in hospitals."

"Who can resist my blue eyes?" Jessica grinned.

The team laughed. It was the same thing Horatio said when he was injured and wanted to go home.

**-I-**

After reassuring Kyle, Henry and her parents that she was fine, Jessica sat down next to Horatio on the couch as he watched _Extreme Makeover_.

"Nothing else on TV?" She asked.

Horatio usually didn't watch that type of TV show.

"Not really." He smiled and kissed her cheek softly.

"So, what did your parents say on the phone?"

"They asked me over and over again if I was fine and that they want to come down here for the weekend. They haven't seen our home yet." Jessica said.

"Sounds like a good idea."

"My mom and dad will be all over me and watch my every step." Jessica chuckled.

"Well, they're probably just as shocked as you are about today." Horatio said, "I remember the horror when I realized you were in there."

"Well, no robbers are going to take me away from you." Jessica smiled and gave Horatio a kiss.

"Good." Horatio grinned.

"We still have to fix a bank account for the baby." Jessica said.

"Well, this time I'm going with you." Horatio smiled and gave her a soft kiss.

_**Please review!**_


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: I know that in the show Kyle worked for Tara in the morgue, but I changed that since in this story Alexx is still the ME. **

Kyle was back in the morgue. He had worked there once for Alexx already and was gladly hired by her again. He only worked there twice a week while he studied the rest of the week or hung out with friends. But it was money he needed and a good experience when it came time to apply for a job as a paramedic.

"Hi Kyle! Welcome back." Alexx smiled and hugged the young man.

"Hey Alexx, it's good to be back." Kyle smiled, "So what do you want me to start with?"

"There was a traffic accident an hour ago, so we'll be having some bodies brought in." Alexx said.

Kyle nodded. He knew what he had to do with the bodies. He didn't like that part of his job. Seeing dead bodies and knowing that somebody would be very sad to learn that a loved one was no longer with them. But the times when the dead body contained evidence to put a bad guy away it was a good job. Kyle showed just as much care for the bodies as Alexx did. Alexx made sure that everyone that worked for her really did care.

"Hey Alexx, here is the first one." Kyle said sadly.

It was just a little girl. Alexx shook her head sadly.

"What had caused the accident?" Kyle asked.

"Some teenagers had stolen a car and drove around like maniacs." Alexx growled.

Kyle sighed heavily. He knew he had once driven around like a maniac himself and that's why he had worked at the morgue the first time. He had really received a wake-up call back then.

Kyle went to get another body, this was the mother of the child. He couldn't really understand how Alexx managed to do this job almost every day. Kyle wanted to be a paramedic to hopefully save lives and prevent them from ending up in the morgue. Although, without people like Alexx and the team, who would solve the cases? Who would bring justice to the victims and their families?

"Is dad and the team working on the case?" Kyle asked.

"I think so." Alexx said.

The next body was one of the teenagers. Not much younger than Kyle. He wondered if he would have been like those teenagers if hadn't found his parents three years ago. Kyle shook his head as he thought about what his life would probably have looked like. As he had said before, Horatio had saved him from an early grave by never giving up on his son. Julia had been there for Kyle as well, although at they had had been a strange relationship. Now, everything worked fine.

"Alexx, here is number three." Kyle said and looked around the morgue, "Alexx?"

Kyle looked out in the hallway, but couldn't see Alexx. He went to the office and couldn't see her there either.

"Alexx?" Kyle called again.

He went to the observation deck and gasped as he saw Alexx on the floor. She was just sitting up as he knelt down next to her.

"Alexx, what happened?" Kyle asked.

"Shh… something fell down up here so I came to check it out, next thing I know someone hit me over the head." Alexx whispered.

Kyle and Alexx froze when they heard someone search for something in the autopsy room. They heard the person open and close the places where the bodies were put before and after an autopsy.

"Where is she?" A man asked.

"I don't know." Another man said.

Kyle quietly called his father, but before he had time to tell him what was going on, someone grabbed him from behind and Alexx screamed. The next thing Kyle remember was a blow to the head and Alexx screaming for someone to stop hitting him.

While Kyle was out cold, Alexx was fighting two big men. The man holding Kyle, tossed him down on the floor and kicked his ribs. The other man grabbed Alexx.

"Where is Felicity Brannon?" The man, who had attacked Kyle, asked.

"I don't know who that is." Alexx growled.

The attackers seemed unaware that Kyle's phone was still calling Horatio and that everything was being recorded.

"Don't lie to me!" The man growled and kicked Kyle in the ribs again.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!"

"Tell me where she is!" The man yelled.

"I have to check my lists." Alexx said.

The men holding her carried Alexx to her office, but didn't let go of her. The other man tried to find the lists of what bodies were currently in the morgue.

"She's not on a list!" He growled.

"Then maybe she has just arrived." Alexx said and gasped as the man holding her, gripped her hand harder.

Alexx thought of the woman that Kyle had wheeled in. It had to be Felicity Brannon!

"Let's check in the autopsy room then." The man sighed.

The man holding Alexx, tossed her down on the floor. Alexx tried to crawl towards Kyle's body, but the man pulled her back against his body again.

"Let me go!" Alexx growled.

She could see some red hair and blonde hair by the door and knew that Horatio and Calleigh were just outside.

"Here she is!" The man said.

It was the female Kyle had wheeled in, the mother to the child.

"Where are you taking her?" Alexx asked.

"Back home." The man smirked.

The other guy was just about to hit Alexx in the head again, when Horatio and Calleigh burst through the doors and aimed their guns at the two attackers.

"Carl Brannon, you're under arrest." Calleigh growled.

Alexx gasped. Carl was a hunted man across Florida for domestic violence and murder. Calleigh cuffed Carl, while Horatio cuffed the other man, who later turned out to be Carl's best friend Vance. When some officers arrived, Horatio knelt down next to Kyle and gently shook him.

"Kyle, son wake up." Horatio said.

Kyle opened his eyes and groaned in pain. Horatio checked Kyle's ribs and saw bruises.

"An ambulance is on its way, son." Horatio said.

Kyle blacked out again and didn't remember being put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. He didn't remember Alexx sitting next to him while she was also taken to the hospital.

Kyle didn't wake up until after three hours and the first thing he noticed was the pain in his head and ribs.

"Need water?" A female voice asked.

When Kyle's blurry vision faded and became more clear, he recognized Jessica. She was sitting next to the bed. Kyle then turned to look at the other side of the bed and saw Julia. Julia squeezed his hand softly.

"Hi Kyle, how are you feeling?" Julia asked.

"Like I've been run over by a train." Kyle said hoarsely.

Jessica offered him some water and Kyle drank up everything in the glass. He then realized this was the first time Julia and Jessica had met. Jessica was now 17 weeks pregnant.

"We've talked while you were out of it." Julia smiled as if she understood that Kyle wondered how they were getting along.

"Where's dad?" Kyle asked.

"I had to send him to eat something. He was so worried then you didn't wake up that he forgot to eat lunch." Jessica said, "Alexx was in here a while ago too."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She got a concussion, but other than that she's fine." Jessica smiled.

"They got the attackers?"

"Yeah, apparently it was Carl Brannon and his best friend. They wanted to steal Carl's wife's body." Jessica said.

Kyle nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment and then tried to sit up in a comfortable position in bed.

"So um, what did you talk about?" Kyle asked.

"Everything." Julia smiled, "You, the baby, Jessica and Horatio's relationship and my life."

"You two don't hate each other?"

"No, why would we?" Julia chuckled.

"Just making sure mom." Kyle grinned and then turned to Jessica, "Are you and dad going to find out the gender of the baby?"

"Nah, we decided to keep it a secret." Jessica grinned.

The door opened and Horatio smiled as he saw that Kyle was awake. He gave his son and Julia a hug and Jessica a soft kiss.

"How are you feeling son?" Horatio asked.

"Like I've been run over by a train." Kyle said, "Or maybe run over by a huge truck."

"Well, I'm glad that you're awake." Horatio smiled.

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"Oh no! You are not going to be like your father and Jessica." Julia laughed, "Don't even try to argue with the doctor about your stay here!"

"It was just an innocent question." Kyle smirked.

"No it wasn't." The adults said.

Kyle chuckled.

"Busted!" He grinned.

**-I-**

Kyle only had to stay in the hospital overnight and the following day he went with Jessica and Horatio to see the baby with an ultrasound.

"And here is the little girl or boy." Elijah, Jessica's doctor, smiled.

"Can you see what it is?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, do you want to know?"

"Yeah, if it's okay for Jessica and dad." Kyle smiled.

"Sure, but you have to wait for us to leave the room first." Horatio smiled.

"I'll print out a picture and write what gender the baby is on it." Elijah said, "Everything seems fine."

"Is that a head?" Kyle asked.

"Yes it is. And here are the toes." Elijah smiled.

Jessica and Horatio looked at each other and grinned. They were happy that Kyle showed so much interest in the baby.

After the ultrasound Jessica and Horatio waited outside, while Elijah printed a picture for Kyle and then wrote the gender of the baby on it. Kyle kept it in his wallet for the moment, so that there was no risk for Jessica and Horatio finding out.

"So will you be able not to tell us the gender?" Horatio asked in the car on the way home.

"Yeah, will you be sad if I let it slip?"

"No, no, not at all. But I know how hard it is for you to not keep good things like this for yourself." Horatio chuckled.

"I'm like you that way." Kyle grinned.

"So true." Horatio nodded.

Once they got home. Kyle went to his room and looked at the picture. He grinned and then read the text below.

_I'm a…_

"Just like suspected!" Kyle grinned and put the picture back in his wallet.

_**Please review!**_

**AN: You won't find out what the gender is just yet, lol. I have already made up my mind though, but you'll have to wait. **


	18. Chapter 18

Jessica was now 21 weeks pregnant and although she had her days of mood swings, nothing had ever been like this day was about to turn out as. Poor Horatio, wasn't sure what to do when his girlfriend glared at him and smacked his shoulder as he put on his suit.

"What was that for?" He asked.

Jessica just sighed and lied back down in bed. She was pissed. She had no particular reason to be pissed off, but she was.

"Leave me alone." She groaned and pulled the pillow down over her head.

Horatio was used to the mood swings by now, but he had no idea that this day was going to be worse than the others. When he tried to give her a goodbye kiss he was met by a hand pressed against his lips.

"I need to sleep." She mumbled.

Horatio shrugged, "Okay, goodbye honey."

"Don't _honey_ me." Jessica growled.

Horatio smiled lightly and headed towards the front door just as Kyle came down the stairs to eat breakfast. Kyle gave his dad a good morning-nod and slumped down on a kitchen chair. Kyle certainly wasn't a morning person like his father.

"Wait a minute! Where's my kiss?" Jessica asked from the bedroom doorway.

She had tears in her eyes and Horatio knew if he didn't turn back to give her a kiss, she would sit on the floor and cry. Being pregnant wasn't easy and Horatio understood how emotional Jessica was.

"Just because you're so cute in the morning, you get two kisses." Horatio smiled and gave Jessica her two kisses.

Jessica grinned and hugged Horatio. Then she watched him leave. As she went to the kitchen she smiled at Kyle and he nodded to her.

"Hungry?" Jessica asked and opened the fridge.

"No, thanks I'm okay." Kyle yawned and let his head drop down on the table.

"I could eat a horse." Jessica giggled and licked her lips as she saw all the delicious food on the fridge.

She took out some butter, cheese and ham. Then she opened some cabinets and took out her craving; Oreos. And some sandwiches.

"Oh right, juice!" She smiled and opened the fridge to take out the juice.

As she made her breakfast, Kyle lifted his head up from the table and his eyes widened as he saw what Jessica was putting together for herself. Three cheese sandwiches, two ham sandwiches, a big glass of juice and ten Oreos.

"That's a big breakfast." Kyle said.

"Well, I'm eating for two." Jessica grinned and put her food on a tray and went to the living room.

Kyle made _one_ ham sandwich to eat and then joined Jessica in the living room. She was watching some talk-show and it was about people that had lost their pets. After ten minutes, Kyle could hear Jessica sobbing. He went to the get her some tissues and she gladly accepted the whole box.

"This is so sad." Jessica sighed, "Oh god, I am so emotional."

Kyle patted her back softly and was glad he usually only got to see her sad mood and not the angry mood swings like Horatio had to.

**-I-**

Poor Horatio was having a hard time explaining to Jessica why there was no milk in the fridge. She wanted milk for lunch and when there wasn't any there she just let the anger take over and called Horatio.

"Sweetheart… I don't drink milk. Usually you don't either. Kyle does and that's why it's up to him to buy it." Horatio said as gently as he could.

"_But I need milk, Horatio. I just watched a show about people who lost their pets, who were like soulmates for them and now I feel the need for milk. It's my comfort food… well, drink._" Jessica growled.

"Sweetheart, I will buy milk before I come home today." Horatio said.

"_I need it now! I have to go and buy it._" Jessica said.

"Okay, if you can't wait then go ahead." Horatio said.

"_You make it sound like I have no patience._"

"That's not what I said. Look, I love…um, strawberries right? Well, I can't wait to get my hands on strawberries." Horatio smiled.

"_Horatio, you just say that to explain how much you love it. You literally aren't pulling your hair out because you can't have your comfort food._" Jessica groaned.

"Well, if you feel like buying milk then do it." Horatio said.

"_Oh I will! But I won't let you have any of it!_" Jessica growled and then hung up.

Horatio looked at the phone in his hand and shrugged. Frank walked up to him and grinned.

"Mood swings huh?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's having a particular bad day today." Horatio sighed.

"And you only have to endure a few more months of it." Frank teased.

Horatio was about to respond when his phone rang and he saw that it was Jessica.

"Yes?" He answered.

"_I'm sorry baby, I didn't meant to growl at you._" Jessica said.

"It's okay sweetheart, I understand." Horatio smiled.

"_Really?_"

"Absolutely."

"_Oh you are the sweetest man ever!_" Jessica shrieked, "_Love ya!_"

"Love you too." Horatio grinned and hung up.

He smirked at Frank.

"Just wait and she'll get angry again." Frank chuckled.

The rest of the day went by fine. Horatio even managed to leave right as the shift ended. It was Friday after all and he had already finished all the paperwork. Just as he stepped inside the house he had to duck to avoid being hit with a flying photo frame.

"That's the ugliest photo of me ever!" Jessica growled and picked the photo up.

"Let me see." Horatio said and looked at the photo of a sixteen-year-old Jessica.

"My mom sent it to me. What where she thinking?" Jessica growled, "I look like a cow!"

"Sorry honey, but I don't see the resemblance between you and a cow." Horatio chuckled.

Jessica glared at him as she snatched the photo away from him to throw it in the trashcan.

"I hate it." She growled.

"You look beautiful." Horatio smiled.

"Wipe that smile off your face!"

"Okay, somebody is in a really bad mood today and needs a relaxing bath and some massage." Horatio grinned and lead Jessica to the bathroom.

He knew she wouldn't be able to say no to a bath and a massage. As she slid down in to the warm water she sighed happily and gave Horatio a huge smile.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Much better." Jessica smiled, "Oh I've been so terrible to you today!"

"No you haven't. I can handle it." Horatio said.

"If I say and do stupid things already, imagine what I'll do when I'm in labor."

Horatio chuckled and washed her hair. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Horatio's fingers running through her hair.

"Jessica?"

"Mm?"

"Are you afraid of giving birth?" Horatio asked.

He knew he would be afraid of the pain if he was the one who was pregnant.

"A little bit. I'm know it's going to hurt and I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it, but… I look forward to it as well. It's the day we'll finally meet our baby." Jessica smiled.

"Well, I'll be by your side the whole time." Horatio grinned and leaned down to give Jessica kiss.

Once the bath was over, Horatio and Jessica went to the living room. Horatio sat down behind Jessica and massaged her shoulders. She moaned in pleasure.

"If you ever want to quit your job, you should consider becoming a massage therapist." Jessica smiled.

"I really can't see myself as that!" Horatio laughed.

"Well you can always be my personal massage therapist." Jessica chuckled.

"I will gladly be that." Horatio smiled.

Later at night when they were in bed, Jessica had trouble sleeping and glared over at Horatio, who seemed to have no trouble sleeping at all.

"It's not fair." She muttered and poked Horatio's cheek.

"Mm?" Horatio moaned.

"Wake up red!"

"What is it sweetheart?" Horatio asked sleepily.

"Why can you sleep and I can't?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I've been working all day."

"Hey! I've been cleaning the kitchen, I went shopping for milk, which by the way I didn't want once I stood there in front of it." Jessica muttered, "I bought it anyway."

"How much?" Horatio asked.

"Just a little."

"Okay… um, well, sweetheart, I think you're tired. Just as I am." Horatio yawned, "Just close your eyes and think about sleep and it will come to you."

"Easy for you to say you, you… argh!" Jessica growled and rolled over and turned her back to Horatio.

Horatio snuggled closer to her and held her from behind.

"You want me to hold you until you sleep?" He asked.

"Yes." Jessica sniffed, "How do you always manage to make me feel good even when I'm so angry?"

"I like to think it's because I'm good in bed."

Jessica burst out laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. Horatio laughed too and held her close. When they calmed down Jessica turned around to face Horatio and buried her head against his neck.

"I needed that." She whispered.

"So did I."

"You know I love you even when I yell at you, right?"

"Of course sweetheart. I love you too even when you yell at me." Horatio grinned.

Jessica chuckled and then closed her eyes. Horatio turned out to be right, because when she thought about sleeping it came to her in just a few minutes. Horatio kissed her softly when he realized she was asleep and then closed his eyes to join his beatiful, blonde, pregnant girlfriend.

_**Please review!**_


	19. Chapter 19

Jessica smiled proudly as she walked to the lab with her 23 weeks pregnant belly. The baby had been kicking and moving around since five in the morning, not that it bothered Jessica very much. It was only hard when she tried to sleep and the baby seemed to want to keep her awake. As Jessica reached the break room she saw Jesse, Frank and Eric making a list and the rest of the lab giving them money to put in a jar.

"Is this what you guys do your lunch break?" Jessica asked as she entered the room.

"We're having a bet." Eric grinned, "Want in?"

"About what?"

"The gender of the baby." Eric said, "15 of us are in on the bet, 10 of us thinks it's a baby girl. The rest say it's a boy."

"And what you do you think?" Jessica asked.

"I'm thinking girl." Eric smiled, "Are you in?"

"Sure, um… I put five dollars on the baby being a boy." Jessica chuckled.

She and Horatio didn't care what the gender was, but being a part of the bet seemed fun. The door opened and Horatio walked in. He gave Jessica a kiss and rubbed her belly softly.

"Are you in H?" Jesse asked.

Horatio chucked. The lab had been talking all week about betting abour the gender of the baby.

"Sure, I bet 20 dollars that it's girl."

"Jessica bet on a boy." Jesse grinned, "Alright so, 17 people, 11 who says girl and 6 who say boy."

Jesse wrote something down on the list. There were two columns and the ones who wanted in on the bet had to simply write their name and the amount of money they were betting with in the right column, either for boy or girl. Then put the money in the jar under the paper.

"Anybody up for having lunch?" Horatio asked.

"Oh yes please!" Jessica exclaimed.

Everyone laughed. Because she was pregnant it wasn't strange that Jessica ate more than usual. The team went with the parents-to-be to a comfy diner. They smiled as they watched Horatio put his hand on the belly to feel the baby kick.

"Kyle knows the gender already." Jessica said, "My doctor told him."

"And he's managed to keep it quiet for so long?" Alexx chuckled.

"Yeah, he just smiles and keeps reminding us that he knows already." Horatio said, "I think he's about to explode of joy."

"Well, it's good that he's happy about having a little brother or sister." Calleigh smiled.

"Speaking of babies." Jessica grinned and looked at Eric and Calleigh, "Thinking about getting any?"

Eric and Calleigh blushed and chuckled. They had taken the step to move in with each other and since Calleigh had the bigger apartment and it closer to the lab; Eric was moving his things to her place.

"One day. We'll see." Eric smiled, "I wouldn't say no to a baby, but we haven't thought about it yet."

"You'd make good parents." Horatio smiled.

"Thanks, no doubt you and Jessica will too." Calleigh giggled, "Are your parents hyper about the baby yet?"

Jessica chuckled and nodded. The team knew that Jessica's father, Clark, had argued about the pregnancy at first, but now both him and Irene wanted to know everything about the pregnancy. They called at least three times a week and asked how the baby was and how the relationship for Jessica and Horatio were going.

"Dad is talking about how he will teach the baby some self defense as he or she gets older." Jessica said, "I told him that the baby had a father, uncles, aunts and a big brother to teach him or her that too."

"Just don't be too overprotective." Alexx smiled, "I've learned while being a parent that being somewhere in between overprotective and not being protective at all is the best way to raise children."

"Well, as they get older they'll make their own choices and if they do something bad than it's on them." Jessica said.

"Absolutely." Frank said, "My oldest girl smoked, fought and drank when she was around 17. We told her that if she does that it's her own responsibility and she has to deal with the consequences."

"Did it work?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, she eventually stopped and broke up with her friends. She moved to France for a year to be on her own and now she's married to a Frenchman." Frank smiled.

"I can just picture you trying to speak French with him." Walter smirked.

"It's a difficult language, but then again so is English for him." Frank said.

Lunch went fine. As Jessica followed Horatio back to the lab to say goodbye, a woman about her age looked at her as if she was a bug she wanted to step on. Jessica frowned and asked Horatio who the woman was.

"Rebecca Nevins, state attorney and… um, an ex-girlfriend of mine." Horatio sighed.

"You dated women like that once?" Jessica teased.

"She was different when I dated her. It was a long time ago." Horatio said.

"I don't think she likes me."

"She doesn't like anyone that is a part of my family. I guess she still hasn't gotten over our break-up." Horatio sighed.

Jessica shook her head and gave Horatio a kiss. She waved goodbye to him as he walked to the lab and she walked to the car. As she drove home, Jessica could understand why Rebecca looked at her so angrily. Horatio was a good man. A man nobody wanted to lose. Jessica was pretty sure that she would have been quite angry as well if Horatio had broken up with her. But then again, it had been years ago. At some point she had to move on.

**-I-**

Jessica wasn't the violent type of girl, but when she saw Rebecca putting her hand on Horatio's shoulder, she was ready to kill. Of course, she was running high on pregnancy hormones and one should never mess with a pregnant woman. Jessica and Horatio were going out eating after his shift and it was when Jessica walked out of the elevator that she saw Horatio and Rebecca by the receptionist's desk. He was just picking up some messages and she was flirting.

"Come on, Horatio, it must be a little boring to sit at home with a pregnant woman." Rebecca smiled.

"Rebecca you know how much I love children, so it's far from boring sitting at home with the woman I love and who is carrying our child." Horatio growled, "Now, remove your hand!"

Rebecca didn't remove her hand, instead she let it slide down to his waist. Horatio sighed heavily and pushed her hand away.

"I thought you were more in to dark-haired women. Not a blonde like that girl, um, Jenny?"

"Jessica." Horatio said, "And I don't care about the colour of her hair."

"Right, it's all personality."

"Exactly."

"Well, you once said to me that I had the most sexy hips you've ever seen." Rebecca grinned.

"That was a long time ago." Horatio sighed, "Now stop these attempts to get me back! I am happy with Jessica."

Rebecca sighed and was about to say something when Jessica decided to intervene. She walked up to Horatio and kissed him hard. Rebecca watched as the blonde woman made out with the man that she was still in love with. Walter and Ryan were standing not far away and they gaped at the scene in front of them.

"Wow!" They both said.

"Ms. Nevins is it?" Jessica greeted, once she parted from Horatio.

"Ms. Stanley. What a shame to be pregnant when you're not even married." Rebecca said.

"Old fashioned are we?" Jessica asked.

"I feel sorry for the kid to get a mom like you." Rebecca smirked evilly.

Jessica gasped and punched her right on the nose! Rebecca yelped and held her nose. A small amount of blood appeared and Jessica smirked.

"Whoa!" Walter and Ryan gasped, "H got himself a terminator-girl!"

"I feel sorry for _your _mom having a kid like _you_!" Jessica growled.

Horatio grabbed Jessica's hand and then lead her to the elevator.

"Calm down sweetheart." He said.

"You're just going to let her say that to me?"

"No, but the best way to get back at her is to ignore her." Horatio said, "How's the nose Rebecca?"

"I can press charges!" Rebecca yelled.

"Based on what?" Ryan asked, "Nobody here saw anything and the surveillance cameras aren't working for the moment. They're being switched out to newer ones."

"Horatio!" Rebecca growled as Horatio and Jessica stepped closer to the elevator.

"Rebecca, move on." Horatio sighed, "And yes, I did say your hips were the sexiest I've ever seen. But I was wrong, Jessica's hips are sexier and she does not only have sexy hips, she has a sexy belly and butt too. Not to mention she's better in bed than your were."

"Horatio!" Rebecca gasped.

"Oh and one last thing, our child will have the best mother in the world. Not many mothers would hit a woman like _you_ before the baby is even born." Horatio smirked and stepped inside the elevator with Jessica.

Rebecca growled and threw her purse at the closing elevator doors. Inside the elevator, Horatio kissed Jessica hard.

"That was the sexiest thing I've ever seen!" He grinned, "I can only imagine how sexy you would look with a gun in your hands."

Jessica chuckled and kissed Horatio softly, "Well, she had it coming sooner or later."

Back in the lab, Walter and Ryan were still shocked at what they had seen. They watched Rebecca leave towards the ladies room to clean up.

"Hey, the surveillance cameras are working." The receptionist Anna smirked.

"We know. Now we got the whole thing on tape. Jessica punching Rebecca and H saying some great words." Ryan said, "Wow… I guess now we know what will happen if we ever piss Jessica off."

"Let's go get that tape from the cameras." Walter grinned.

_**Please review!**_


	20. Chapter 20

At 25 weeks pregnant Jessica had suddenly started to become worried about giving birth. Jessica looked at herself in the mirror and caressed her belly. She loved to see it grow. Kyle was absolutely obsessed with feeling the baby kick. Jessica thought it was good that he was so happy about the baby. Today, Clark and Irene were coming down for a visit. It was their second visit to Jessica and Horatio's home. But not their second to Miami, they had been in Miami many times before. Henry wasn't coming because he had to work, but it was okay.

"I look like a hippo." Jessica sighed.

Her mother had told her that it was normal to feel that way during a pregnancy. Irene herself had constantly worried that Clark thought she had looked like an elephant when she had been pregnant with her kids.

"You are the most beautiful hippo I've ever seen." Horatio smiled from the doorway.

"Aw, you're just saying that because it's true." Jessica teased.

"Absolutely." Horatio grinned and hugged her from behind.

As he started kissing her neck softly, Jessica moaned and then looked at the time.

"Mom and dad will be here soon." She moaned.

"Not for at least thirty minutes." Horatio said and kissed her lips.

As they stood in their bedroom making out, Clark and Irene pulled up in the driveway and watched as Kyle came out of the garage, covered in dirt.

"Kyle aren't you too old to play around in the dirt?" Clark teased the young man and patted his back.

"Oh not at all, haven't you heard? It's the latest thing!" Kyle chuckled, "How was the drive here?"

"Long, but also relaxing." Clark smiled, "We're a little early though."

"I'm sure dad and Jessica have been waiting for you all morning." Kyle smiled and lead Irene and Clark to the front door.

"Why are you covered in dirt by the way?" Irene asked.

"I was just working a little bit on dad's Buick." Kyle smiled, "I looked at the engine."

"Is something wrong with it?" Irene asked.

"No, I just need to know everything I can about my future car." Kyle grinned widely.

He couldn't wait for the day when Horatio would give him the beauty in the garage. Kyle opened the door and stepped aside to let Clark and Irene inside. On the same time in the bedroom, Jessica and Horatio, who were half-naked realized that Irene and Clark had arrived already.

"Oh god!" Jessica groaned and put on her bra and blouse, "They're early. Typical when dad is driving."

"You can't be sure he was driving." Horatio said as he put on his shirt.

"If they are here early then he was the one driving." Jessica said and exited the bedroom.

She hugged her parents and lead them to the living room. Clark and Irene shared a knowing glance. Jessica's messed up hair and flushed face let them know they had caught her and Horatio at a bad time. Horatio exited the bedroom shortly after Jessica and greeted Irene and Clark.

"Can I get you anything?" Horatio asked.

"Coffee would be great, please." Irene smiled.

"For me too, please son." Clark smiled.

Horatio and Jessica shared a grin. Clark had never called Horatio son before. Kyle took a shower while the adults had some coffee in the living room. Unfortunately the rain was pouring down outside so there was no point in going out on the beach.

"So have you been to another ultrasound yet?" Irene asked.

"Yeah, everything is fine with the baby so far." Jessica said.

"Why do I sense that it's not completely true?" Clark asked.

Jessica groaned and rolled her eyes. She could never lie to her dad. He was a cop after all, just like Horatio.

"Okay, okay, I've been a little stressed lately and of course the baby got stressed as well." Jessica said, "Now, everything is fine."

"Why were you stressed?" Irene asked.

"She's a little worried about giving birth." Horatio said and squeezed Jessica's hand softly.

"Oh sweetheart, I know the feeling. I was too. You won't remember it later on." Irene smiled, "When you're giving birth you will be so tired and angry that you'll do anything to get the baby out."

"Including almost crushing your man's hand." Clark chuckled.

Jessica and Horatio laughed. Clark and Irene had never told them that before.

"Mom, crushed your hand dad?"

"Yeah, both when she gave birth to Henry and to you." Clark smirked, "But it's okay."

"Now _I'm_ getting worried!" Horatio chuckled.

When Kyle exited the bathroom he told Clark and Irene about the time Jessica had punched Rebecca Nevins two weeks earlier. Clark and Irene laughed so hard that they had tears falling from their eyes.

"Well, when Irene was pregnant with Henry she punched Santa Claus at a mall." Clark grinned.

"Mom!" Jessica gasped.

"Well, he was just trying to joke with me and asked me if I wanted diet pills for Christmas." Irene said, "And for that I broke his nose."

"He actually said that?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"I guess he didn't understand that you don't mess with pregnant women. Irene was just two weeks away from giving birth too, so she was visibly pregnant." Clark explained, "The guy's brain just wasn't connected with his mouth."

**-I-**

After dinner Clark and Horatio were having a beer on the back porch. Irene and Jessica were in the kitchen talking about childbirth. Kyle was in his room.

"What kind of a dad are you?" Clark suddenly asked.

Horatio knew that Clark was interrogating him and that he meant well.

"I know you didn't raise Kyle from the beginning so it's hard to know how you'll handle the baby-stage." Clark explained, "Kyle is a great kid so I don't doubt your ability to be a dad, I'm just curious to know you're thoughts about fatherhood."

"Well um, I see it as a blessing." Horatio smiled, "And I would do anything for my children."

"Just want to be sure you're not the kind of dad that gives the kids to mommy when they're crying."

"Oh no, no! Not at all." Horatio said, "I believe Jessica and I will be loving and funny parents, but we also have rules and I guess when you raise a child you the best you can."

"That's what I said too." Clark smiled, "What were your parents like?"

"My mother was sweet as sugar. She would never hurt a fly. My dad wasn't a very nice man."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. He did teach me one good thing in life though." Horatio said, "How _not_ to treat children."

Clark smiled and patted Horatio's back. When Clark had grown up he had had the kind of father that never really paid attention to the his children. He worked all the time and must have had three mistresses. It was always Clark's mother that had to take care of the children. However, all that changed one day when Clark was 10 and came home and said he wanted his father to either move out or become a _real _dad.

As Clark told Horatio this, Horatio wished he would have been just as strong as Clark. He wished he would have stood up against his father. But it was such a long time ago and he couldn't change that now.

"And what happened?"

"He broke up with his mistresses. He changed his job and even though he only got half the salary he used to have, he was happier than ever before." Clark smiled, "He became the dad I will always love."

"And your role model I guess?"

"Absolutely." Clark nodded.

Clark was about to say something when Irene opened the door.

"Jessica is in pain, she says it's in her abdomen!" Irene panted.

Horatio and Clark rushed inside the house and found Jessica in the kitchen, supporting herself against the kitchen counter. Clark called for an ambulance, while Horatio lead Jessica to the couch.

"I don't understand why this is happening!" Jessica gasped.

"Have you felt stressed lately?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, I mean no. I have taken it easy." Jessica said and then groaned in pain.

Irene and Horatio sat next to Jessica and she panted and groaned in pain.

"We were just talking about childbirth. I talked about that everything was going to be fine." Irene said, she feared that by talking about giving birth she had caused Jessica to get stressed again.

"Mom, it's not your fault." Jessica panted.

"Breathe honey." Horatio said.

"Oh god, I can't!" Jessica groaned.

Kyle came down the stairs and was stunned at what he saw. Clark managed to bring him back to the here and now and the two of them helped the paramedics inside the house. Jessica was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Horatio sat next to her in the ambulance. Kyle drove the car as he, Clark and Irene followed the ambulance.

Once they arrived to the ER, Jessica was taken to an emergency room and Horatio had to wait outside. He was pacing in the waiting area when Kyle, Clark and Irene arrived.

"Where is she?" Clark asked.

"They took her away. I wasn't allowed to go with her." Horatio sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.

It seemed like it took forever, but in only took an hour before a doctor finally came to talk to them.

"Well, Ms. Stanley has round ligament pain." The doctor explained, "She will be fine, but she has to cut back on being so active. I would suggest she tries to stay in bed as much as possible, especially when she feels pain."

"So she's not in any danger?" Horatio asked.

"No, she'll be fine. I want to her to stay overnight though. Just to observe her and the baby." The doctor said.

"Okay, thanks doc." Horatio said.

"She's in room 456." The doctor smiled and walked away.

Kyle gave his dad a supporting hug.

"Can we go see her?" He asked.

Horatio nodded and the foursome went to the room. When Horatio peeked inside he smiled as Jessica reached out her arms to him.

"Round ligament pain. What a funny thing to have during the pregnancy." Jessica sighed heavily.

Horatio hugged her and kissed her lips softly. He knew she was only being sarcastic. Clark and Irene hugged their daughter and Kyle have her a kiss on the cheek. Everyone were happy that Jessica was fine, well not completely fine, having round ligament pain wasn't exactly nice and it would break their hearts to know she was in pain.

"I'll be fine guys." Jessica said as if she had read their thoughts, "Everything will work out."

"From now a lot of bed rest." Horatio said.

"You're going to carry me everywhere right?"

"Absolutely." Horatio smiled and kissed Jessica again.

_**Please review!**_


	21. Chapter 21

Jessica rubbed her belly as she entered the kitchen. She was now 28 weeks pregnant and even though she had round ligament pain she was allowed to walk around in the house, although as little as possible. Jessica hadn't been sure what round ligament pain was when she had come home from the hospital, so she had checked it up. In short it was abdominal pain from when the body was trying to cope with the physical changes that a pregnancy caused. Jessica had been in a lot of pain some days and in very little pain other days. Horatio was always there to help and support her, unless he was working of course. Today, Horatio was working on two murder cases and would probably not be home for dinner. As much as he wanted to, he sometimes had to sacrifice that in order to solve cases.

Jessica opened a cabinet and was horrified to see that her craving wasn't there. Her craving was Oreos and she needed it now!

"I swear to god that man forgot to buy it!" Jessica growled and called her red headed boyfriend.

At the lab Horatio was in the layout room with his team when his phone rang. Since they knew Jessica had round ligament pain they understood that Horatio answered his phone faster than a bullet could fly through the air.

"Jessica, sweetheart what is it?" Horatio asked.

"_There are no Oreos at home_." Jessica growled lightly.

Horatio winced, "Um… ops, sorry sweetheart."

"_Sorry? Horatio, I need those Oreos!_" Jessica cried and could feel tears threatening to fall.

"I will buy some when I come home."

"_That's ages from now!_"

"Jessica, honey, I'm sorry. But you'll just have to survive without them."

Horatio regretted saying that when he heard Jessica gasp.

"_I'll buy them myself_." She growled.

"No! I'll do it, just not now." Horatio said.

His team was smirking at him as they understood from what Horatio said, that Jessica was missing her Oreos. They knew how furious Jessica could be when she didn't have them close by.

"_You, you, you man! You better buy me the entire shelf!_" Jessica whined and hung up.

Horatio shrugged. He really couldn't leave work. He barely had time to a take bathroom break. If he was lucky he would be able to get a ten minutes break to eat lunch. Jessica would just have accept that there were no Oreos at home.

Back in the beach house, Jessica thought for a long time about calling her brother Henry and have him drive from Orlando with Oreos.

"Oh, don't be stupid." She said to herself, "Horatio will buy it when he comes home."

Jessica tried to push the thoughts of Oreos out of her mind and to distract herself from it she watched TV and then a horror movie. She listened to music and cleaned the kitchen. She noticed that the baby was kicking during the cleaning and Jessica took a moment to simply feel the kicks. She sat down on a kitchen chair and smiled as she could feel a kick under her hand.

"Hey baby." She smiled, "Not too long left now. Soon you'll be here with me and daddy!"

Jessica grinned widely and after a few moments she went back to cleaning. When she had done all she could think of doing, Jessica sat down on the couch in the living room and thought of only one thing: _Oreos_.

**-I-**

Horatio was tired as he strolled through the mall that was closest to home. He had been working since seven in the morning to seven in the evening. He was longing to get home to his pregnant girlfriend and just rest and get some food in his empty stomach. However, first he had to buy what he had promised to buy; Oreos for Jessica. Horatio suddenly stood there in front of the part of shelf that the Oreos were on.

"The entire shelf she said… um, maybe not though." Horatio said quietly to himself.

He was thinking hard. Maybe he should by the entire shelf for her after all.

**-I-**

Jessica would have gladly jumped up in Horatio's arms when she heard the front door open and close, but she was tired and was about to fall asleep on the couch. Horatio smiled as he saw her lying on the couch and bent down next to her.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi. I'm sorry for being so evil to you on the phone." Jessica whispered.

"It's okay. I understand." Horatio smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Still craving for Oreos?"

"Not anymore. But I probably will later." Jessica smiled.

"I got you some."

"Oh, you're so sweet!" Jessica grinned and bent forward to give Horatio a kiss.

Horatio put his hand on her belly, but didn't feel any kicks.

"The baby must be asleep." He said.

"Oh yeah, she or he has been up all day." Jessica chuckled, "Showing mommy what a hyper kid it'll be."

"Maybe a boxer."

"Maybe." Jessica smiled.

"Maybe we'll get a figure skating CSI who solves crime while skating and doing tricks on the ice." Horatio grinned.

Jessica burst out laughing and then gave Horatio a hug.

"You have so many crazy ideas."

"I know." Horatio smiled, "Seriously though, our baby can become whatever he or she wants. As long as it's not something illegal."

"I agree." Jessica said, "Now, we are my Oreos?"

Horatio stood up and went to the hallway to get the Oreos he had left there. He came back with two bags filled with Oreos and Jessica's eyes widened.

"Horatio?" She asked.

"You did tell me to buy the entire shelf of Oreos." Horatio grinned.

Jessica laughed and started putting the packages of Oreos on the living room table.  
"Wow, these will last long!" Jessica chuckled.

"I hope so." Horatio said, "You should have seen the look the cashier gave me. He must have thought I was crazy. I told him it was for my pregnant girlfriend."

"I can only imagine the look."

"And the woman behind me told me that it's okay to admit that we all have addictions." Horatio chuckled, "She thought I was blaming it on a pregnant woman."

Jessica laughed and caressed Horatio's cheek softly, "And what did you tell her?"

"I showed her a photo from the ultrasound we had last week." Horatio grinned, "She blushed so much!"

"I bet she did!" Jessica grinned, "How much did this cost?"

"You don't want to know." Horatio chuckled.

_**Please review!**_


	22. Chapter 22

The lab had been planning a baby shower for Jessica and Horatio for a few weeks and they had the perfect plan on how to surprise them. Both Horatio and Jessica had forgot completely about the tradition of having a baby shower. Kyle was the most important part of the plan. It was his job to keep Jessica and his father out of the house while the lab and a few homicide detectives carried the gifts inside the living room and set up dinner for all of them on the back porch.

Since Kyle had to make sure that everyone got at least thirty minutes on them to organize everything and hide, he had decided to be extra lazy and ask his father and Jessica to come get him from school. That's what Kyle was waiting for at the moment. It was his last class and he was pretty sure Horatio and Jessica were already outside the school waiting for him.

As soon as the class was over he lazily walked to his locker.

"Dude, why are you taking so long?" His friend Marcus asked.

"I need to be lazy today." Kyle sighed and explained what was happening in Horatio and Jessica's beach house right now.

"Good luck!" Marcus grinned.

Kyle walked slowly to towards the parking lot and didn't hurry when he saw the hummer. He greeted his father and Jessica as he got inside the hummer and fumbled with the seatbelt on purpose.

"How was school?" Jessica asked.

"Good." Kyle said, "Ya'll alright?"

"Perfect, son." Horatio smiled.

Jessica was now 31 weeks pregnant and it seemed as if everyone had suddenly realized that it wasn't long left now. Even in the lab everyone people seemed to have just thought about that it was soon time for the baby to enter the world. Horatio started the hummer and Kyle had to put his first plan in to motion.

"Um dad, I need to borrow a book at the library." Kyle said.

Horatio nodded and drove there. On the way there, Kyle tried to figure out what kind of a book he would borrow. Something that his dad wouldn't think was strange.

"What kind of book is it?" Horatio asked.

"It's a psychology book, our teacher wants us to read it so we'll understand people better and especially future victims we might have to help." Kyle smiled.

"Good. Psychology is important." Horatio said.

Kyle nodded and silently thanked his father for believing him. Once they arrived at the library Kyle lazily walked inside, he had been sure that Horatio and Jessica would stay in the car, but he heard them walking behind him.

"Maybe I could borrow another baby book." Jessica grinned.

"Haven't you already read four?" Horatio asked.

"They're fun to read and I don't mind reading a 5th." Jessica smiled.

Horatio and Jessica went to the baby section and Kyle went to the psychology section. He stood there staring at the books to pretend to be interested and for some time to pass. Soon Horatio came looking for him.

"Can't find your book?"Horatio asked.

"There are so many good ones here. I don't know which one to pick." Kyle said.

Horatio grabbed a green book.

"I've read this one, it's good." He said.

Kyle smiled and took it. Once they left library, Kyle realized that the team needed another ten minutes at least before Kyle, H and Jessica could come home.

"I'm hungry, anybody else who is too?" Kyle asked.

"Not really." Horatio and Jessica said.

"I'm starving dad."

"There's food at home." Horatio said.

Kyle growled low. He saw a McDonald's sign.

"Dad, I haven't had a burger in like… three months." Kyle whined, "Please?"

Horatio sighed. Kyle knew he had won. His father had a soft spot for him. Jessica chuckled when she realized Kyle would get his burger.

"Softie." She teased Horatio.

"You are too." Horatio smirked.

"Well, it's hard to resist when someone's begging for a burger." Jessica chuckled.

Kyle took extra long time to decide what he wanted as he stood by the cash desk. Once Kyle had got his burger he couldn't think of anything else to do to stall time. When the hummer pulled up on the drive-way the house was dark. Kyle followed Jessica and Horatio inside. Horatio and Jessica went to the living room.

"Surprise!"

Jessica and Horatio jumped in fear and then just stared at the lab techs, CSI's and several homicide detectives.

"Oh my god!" Jessica chuckled, "You almost scared me to death."

"This explains why Kyle took such a long time to do everything today." Horatio grinned and gave his son a playful glare, "Did you really need a psychology book?"

"Nope, I've already read one a few months ago." Kyle grinned.

Jessica gasped as she saw all the gifts on the floor in the living room and the table on the back porch with all the food.

"Should we eat first?" She asked.

"Please, we're starving." Eric grinned.

Everyone sat down to eat and had to explain how they had come up with everything.

"Kyle was the most important part of all of this, if he didn't manage to trick you in to all that he did, this wouldn't have worked." Calleigh smiled, "Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom."

While Calleigh was in the bathroom, Ryan and Frank told them all about the difficulty of first finding the key to the house.

"Alexx has an extra that she forgot at home. Frank couldn't remember where he had placed his extra keys." Ryan said.

Alexx and Frank had been trusted with a key to the house many years ago.

"And it was too late to ask Kyle for his key by the time we got here." Frank said, "Luckily, we found my keys under the seat of my car. How they ended up there I don't know."

"When did you guys finish?" Kyle asked.

"Maybe two minutes before you all got here." Eric said.

When everyone had eaten they went inside and handed Horatio and Jessica gifts as they sat down on the couch. Everyone who had been in on the bet and thought the baby was a boy had bought boy stuff and everyone else had bought girl stuff. Some of the homicide detectives hadn't been in on the bet, so they bought a little bit of both.

"Aw, look at this cute little dress." Jessica grinned and held up a yellow dress.

Some of the clothes were for when the baby was a newborn and some other clothes for when the baby was a little bit older. Kyle glanced at the gifts and grinned. Since he knew the gender of the baby, he knew who would be losing money from the bet and who would gain money.

"I can see the baby will have clothes he or she won't use." Kyle winked.

"Maybe for the next baby then." Jesse said, "Tell me the gender."

"Do you really want to know?" Kyle asked.

"Yes… no!" Jesse smirked, "Don't tell me. I can't decide if I want to know or not."

"I don't mind knowing." Alexx grinned and Kyle whispered it in her ear.

"Really?" Alexx asked.

"Yep!"

"I guess the green, um, ups, can't say which green thing that won't be used." Alexx laughed.

The baby had been given green boy pants and a green shirt as well as a light green dress and green socks with flowers on them.

"Have you bought anything for the baby?" Eric asked Kyle.

"I have, but I won't give it to dad and Jessica until after the baby is born. That way, I won't let them know what it is." Kyle smiled.

**-I-**

Jessica and Horatio were putting the clothes in the baby's closet. The nursery was far from done, but they had started putting a crib there and a closet. As well as some boxes of toys that they had bought.

"I think Calleigh is pregnant." Jessica said suddenly.

"What makes you think that?"

"She went to the bathroom five times." Jessica grinned, "And my female intuition tells me she and Eric are going to be parents too."

"Well, it's about time for them!" Horatio grinned, "I can just imagine former ladies-man Eric Delko changing diapers."

"And our babies will be cousins!" Jessica smiled.

"_If_ they are expecting. We don't know yet."

Jessica smiled, "I trust my female intuition."

_**Please review!**_


	23. Chapter 23

Horatio was worried about Calleigh, she did show signs of being pregnant and after he had kept an eye on her all day, he felt he had to ask her if she was alright. Horatio found her in the ballistic lab, working on a gun.

"Calleigh, are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Calleigh smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"Horatio, what's going on?"

"Well, I um, me and Jessica are worried about you." Horatio said, "She says her female intuition says your pregnant and I have to agree now that I've watched you for a week. Since the baby shower."

Calleigh did what Horatio had not expected; she started laughing. When she calmed down she patted his shoulder gently.

"Alexx and Natalia have asked me the same thing." Calleigh smiled, "I'm not pregnant. I just happen to have a small bladder."

Horatio blushed.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Don't be. Eric also thought I was pregnant and for a moment I did too. But I checked with my doctor and I'm not." Calleigh said, "Doesn't mean I don't want to be one day, but for now I'm not."

"Okay." Horatio said and then grinned widely.

Calleigh looked at him confused.

"I guess this proves that female intuition can be wrong." He chuckled.

"Oh no, Jessica is never going to hear the end of it, is she?" Calleigh laughed.

"Never!"

"Go easy on her or she might just hurt you. Pregnancy hormones you know." Calleigh winked.

Horatio laughed and gave his long-time friend a hug before leaving. Horatio had a huge smirk the rest of the shift and all the way home. When he entered the house he found Jessica baking a cake in the kitchen. It was Kyle's birthday cake.

"Honey…" Horatio smirked "Guess what I found out today."

"That you're son is home in ten minutes and this cake is not even close to finished?" Jessica asked.

"I found out that your intuition was wrong."

Jessica turned around and looked in disbelief at Horatio.

"No way!" She said.

"Yes way." Horatio grinned, "Calleigh is not pregnant."

"Damn, my female intuition isn't working." Jessica grinned, "Well, maybe one day she will be."

Horatio nodded and then gave Jessica a hug and bent down to give the belly a kiss.

"So, Kyle's home soon huh?"

Just then they heard Kyle enter the house and soon he stood in the doorway with a huge smile in his face.

"Guess who is 20-years-old today!" Kyle smiled widely.

"Someone from American Idol?" Horatio asked.

"No, no, Horatio. It's an actor." Jessica said.

Kyle stuck his tongue out to the adults and then gave them both a hug.

"Congratulations Kyle!" Jessica smiled.

"Congratulations son." Horatio said, "Now, the cake isn't finished yet, but..."

"It's okay." Kyle grinned, "Guess what I got from a girl in school?"

"A kiss?" Horatio teased.

Kyle blushed and shook his head, "No."

Jessica and Horatio didn't believe him.

"She gave me her phone number and asked me out on a date." Kyle grinned.

"It's usually the other way around." Horatio said, "I like this girl already though, she's seems to take things in to her own hands."

"The date is tonight. And I have to pick her up." Kyle said, "Can I borrow your Buick?"

"You can have the car forever son." Horatio smiled.

Kyle gaped at his father and then pulled him in to a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kyle exclaimed and grabbed the car keys as Horatio held them out to him. Jessica and Horatio followed Kyle out to the garage and watched as he hugged the hood of the car.

"It's mine!" He smiled widely and then hurried to sit in the driver's seat.

He started the car and was about to take a drive when he remembered the cake and that it was still two hours left before he was going to pick up his date.

"Is the cake finished?" Kyle asked.

"Should be." Jessica smiled.

They all went inside and sat down in the kitchen. Kyle got a big piece of cake and then Horatio couldn't contain his curiosity anymore.

"So what's the girls name?" He asked.

"Sarah."

"Is she a classmate?" Horatio smiled.

"Yes." Kyle said, "She's been checking me out for two months."

"And how long have you been checking her out?" Horatio asked.

Kyle blushed, but didn't answer. He had been wanting to talk to Sarah for two months as well. He just hadn't had the courage to do it.

"So um, what are your plans for tonight?" Jessica asked.

"Dinner and a movie. Maybe take a walk." Kyle said, "Is that too much?"

"No, it's perfect." Horatio said, "Just remember to pay for her food and ticket to the movies."

"Oh I will." Kyle grinned.

"Are you scared of her father?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, he's a military man." Kyle shuddered, "Sarah says he is sweet as a teddy bear."

"He might be." Jessica said, "I bet she's afraid to meet Julia."

"No, she said she was more afraid to meet dad." Kyle chuckled.

"Really? It's usually the girls who are afraid to met mom and boys that are afraid to met dad." Horatio smiled.

"Well, it's not every day you go on a date with Lt. Caine's son." Kyle grinned.

**-I-**

Horatio and Jessica waved goodbye to Kyle as he drove off to pick up Sarah. When his car was out of sight they went inside and Horatio went to get some bottles of paint.

"Horatio, what are you doing?" Jessica asked.

"We're painting the belly tonight." Horatio grinned.

Jessica laughed and looked at the bottles, it was green, yellow, blue and red paint. They went to the bedroom and Horatio put some towels under Jessica to protect the sheets from the paint. Jessica laid down and took off her shirt. Horatio started painting blue eyes on the belly.

"It's cold!" Jessica chuckled.

Horatio smiled and while he was busy painting a yellow face, Jessica dipped her hand in the green bottle and then put her hand against Horatio's chin. She burst out laughing at Horatio's shocked look.

"Hey!" He exclaimed and ran the yellow brush over her right arm.

Jessica threw some blue paint on Horatio's shirt. It was a good thing they both had on clothes that they didn't mind got covered in paint.

Soon they were trying to get each other as much covered in paint as possible. Horatio's jeans were no longer blue; instead they were yellow and red. Jessica's pants were green and her arms were yellow.

Once they calmed down, Jessica painted a red mouth on her 32 weeks pregnant belly.

"We got more covered in paint than the belly did." She smiled.

"Just imagine what it'll be like when Kyle and I fix the nursery. He won't be able to resist putting painting _me_ instead of the walls." Horatio chuckled.

Jessica smiled and gave Horatio a soft kiss. She watched as he finished painting the belly. It ended up being a mix between a face and a landscape. When they were done they took a shower together and tried their best to get the paint off themselves.

"It's a good thing you're not working this weekend." Jessica smiled, "I wonder what the team would say if they saw you come in to work with blue hair."

"They would tease me for the rest of my life." Horatio said.

They baby kicked just where one of the painted eyes were.

"It looks like the eye is about to pop out!" Horatio chuckled.

"I think he or she enjoyed this art session as much as we did." Jessica grinned and caressed the belly.

"Just eight weeks and two days left." Horatio said, "Fourteen hours and 34 minutes."

Jessica gasped and gave Horatio a shocked look.

"The doctor never gave us an exact time of birth." She said.

"No, but I bet against myself what time the baby will be born."

"You're crazy!" Jessica laughed, "But I love you anyway."

"I love you too."

_**Please review!**_


	24. Chapter 24

Jessica was watching TV and happened to come across a show about women in labor. Jessica was already worried about the pain she would be in and watching other women scream as they gave birth didn't make her any less worried. Jessica couldn't take her eyes away though and her mouth was hanging open as she watched a woman scream as she pushed her baby out. The woman had been in labor for ten hours. Jessica couldn't imagine being in labor for so long and she admired the strength of the woman on the TV.

"_Come on almost there!_" The doctor said.

Jessica gasped as a little baby come out and the woman and her husband started crying of joy. Jessica knew she would definitely cry and it wouldn't surprise her if Horatio did as well. The show switched to another woman still waiting for her contractions to come closer, she was walking around and her husband was close by.

"I'm glad I don't have to give birth in front of cameras." Jessica muttered.

When the show switched to a third woman the narrator told the viewers that the woman was ten days past her due date. Jessica almost choked on her lunch when she heard that and gaped at the screen. She hoped she wouldn't be that much past her date or too early.

The forth woman on the show was giving birth to twins and Jessica winced as she heard the screams coming from the woman. She was in a lot of pain and her epidural wasn't working any longer. She had been pushing for two hours.

Jessica put her food away and forced herself to turn off the TV. She was now 38 weeks pregnant and was the calmest of the two parents-to-be. Horatio was so worried about all that could go wrong and that Jessica would be in pain that the poor man was barely able to sleep at night. He would sit up during the night and watch as Jessica slept, just to make sure she was alright. Jessica was barely able to go around the house while he was at home.

Horatio was working and would be until Jessica went in to labor. Jessica thought it was good for him to work so he could focus on other things that to almost worry himself to death.

**-I-**

Walter and Calleigh chuckled as their boss searched through his pockets for his ringing phone. He always worried that the caller would be Jessica and that she would tell him that their baby was coming. No matter how much he was waiting for the baby to finally be born, he also worried about all the things that could go wrong. He had such a wild imagination and had already asked Alexx about all sorts of different scenarios that could happen and what he should do if something did happen.

"Poor man, I don't think he's getting much sleep." Walter said.

"Jessica said he isn't." Calleigh said, "It's kind of fun to see him so unfocused and a little giddy though."

Walter chuckled in agreement. Horatio was a man that was always in control, until now. The whole week at the lab he had worried so much that he forgot his sunglasses and cell phone in the office several times, he forgot to eat lunch and constantly wondered if Jessica was alright at home. He used to call home several times during the shift, but Jessica and Alexx had finally forbid him to. Horatio needed to calm down and focus on his job when he was working. As long as Jessica didn't call she was fine.

"You got anything for me?" Horatio asked Cal and Walter.

"Trace." Walter said and explained how some trace evidence could be used to nail a suspect to a murder case.

"Cal?" Horatio asked.

"I got the trace on the bullet." Calleigh said and explained her findings.

Horatio nodded and took Walter with him to interrogate and nail their suspect. Horatio managed to surprise himself by completely putting Jessica and the baby aside during the interrogation. Once the case was finished he met Frank for lunch in the break room.

"You know when my ex-wife gave birth to our second child, she was in labor for 11 hours." Frank said and managed to contain himself from smirking at Horatio's gasp of surprise.

"Frank..." Horatio groaned.

"She was!" Frank smiled, "She hit me in the head too, so just to be safe you might want to wear a helmet."

"This isn't true is it?"

"It sure is." Frank smirked, "And my sister, when she gave birth to her son she had to do an emergency c-section."

"What?! Why?"

"Don't remember. But it was bleeding a lot." Frank smirked.

Horatio looked like he had seen a ghost. He usually wasn't spooked so easily, but it was Jessica and the baby he was worried about. Alexx had been listening from the doorway to the break room and she went inside and smacked Frank on the head.

"Don't scare him!" She growled, "You should support him not scare him."

Frank chuckled and patted Horatio's shoulder.

"Look, Horatio, would it feel better if I told you that neither my ex-wife nor my sister remember much of what had happened and everything worked out fine?" Frank asked.

"Not if you're only saying that because you think it's what I want to hear."

"It's not. It's true." Frank smiled.

"Horatio sweetie, Jessica will do just fine." Alexx smiled, "And you'll be there every step of the way."

Horatio nodded and gave Alexx a smile. Alexx remembered how scared her husband had been during their first child's birth. He had just been staring at her through the labor and been completely stunned when their baby boy had been placed on her chest.

"And don't pretend like you were a tough man when you're wife was pregnant, Frank. I remember how worried you were." Alexx grinned.

"I was a little scared yes." Frank said.

Alexx and Horatio raised their eyebrows at him and Frank blushed.

"Alright, I was scared beyond belief!" Frank confessed, "She wasn't though."

"You're ex-wife is scared of nothing." Jesse said as he entered the break room.

"She's scared of snakes." Frank said, "I found that out the painful way."

Frank rubbed the side of his head as the remembered the day he had scared his ex-wife so much that she had picked up the closest thing she had to beat the snake to death with and it happened to be a baseball bat and after she realized the snake was plastic, she had hit Frank in the head. He had been fine though and not even got a concussion.

"You learned a valuable lesson that day." Jesse grinned, "You were in pain from being hit by her, the rest of us were in pain from laughing so hard!"

Frank growled and shot Jesse a glare.

**-I-**

Jessica sat on a kitchen chair as Horatio was cooking dinner. He had just got home from work and to his horror found Jessica in the kitchen making dinner. Kyle wasn't home from school yet. He seemed to be the only one who wasn't worried about Jessica, instead he just thought about the baby and how little time it was left before he would finally be able to hold his little brother or sister.

The only thing left to do in the house was to finish the nursery, Horatio and Kyle had planned to do to it the coming week and is was possible that Eric would help too. Since they didn't know the gender of the baby they would paint the room in a color that would fit both genders.

"Don't forget we have an ultrasound tomorrow." Jessica smiled and rubbed her belly.

"I would never forget that." Horatio grinned and placed the food on the table.

The front door opened and Kyle soon joined the two adults in the kitchen. He smiled as he saw the baby kick every now and then.

"I bought something for you." He grinned and gave Jessica a bag.

Jessica put several baby books on the table and grinned.

"Aw, Kyle!" She smiled widely, "Thank you!"

"Anytime, I'm not sure how much the baby will enjoy bedtime stories as a newborn but I was thinking the older he or she gets the more the baby can enjoy it." Kyle smiled.

"Thank you, son." Horatio grinned, "I still can't believe you've been able to keep the gender a secret for so long."

"Well, soon you two are the only ones who don't know what it is." Kyle said, "Alexx, Frank, Natalia, Calleigh, Walter and Valera knows. As well as mom and some of my friends."

"So Eric, Ryan and Jesse are sticking to not wanting to know?" Horatio grinned, "And of course Irene, Clark and Henry."

"No, Henry knows." Jessica said.

"Yep." Kyle nodded.

After dinner and Jessica and Horatio sat in front of the TV and came across a show that Jessica recognized. It was the same show she had seen earlier, only now it was a new episode.

"Oh my god." She groaned.

"You've watched this?" Horatio asked.

"Yes earlier today I saw another episode. One woman had been in labor for ten hours."

Horatio winced and watched as a little baby girl was born. He smiled and nodded towards the screen.

"Look at that, isn't that amazing?" He asked.

"Yes, but these women has got to be scared of giving birth again after so many hours of labor."

"Not all women are in labor for so long." Horatio said, "Alexx had two children. And your mom, not to mention Frank's ex-wife."

Jessica shuddered. She was probably just freaked out about giving birth because it was so close and it was her first child. She definitely wanted more children even if it meant going through pain.

"I'll be with the whole time." Horatio smiled.

"I'll probably yell at you or hit you." Jessica said.

"That's okay, I think I can understand why you will do it." Horatio grinned and kissed Jessica's cheek.

"Just don't get scared that I'll die." Jessica said.

"Sweetheart, it's impossible for me not to worry." Horatio smiled.

_**Please review!**_

_**Almost time for the baby to come!**_


	25. Chapter 25

Horatio, Kyle and Eric had taken a whole day to finish the nursery. All the walls were painted in light blue and one wall had some animated figures painted on it. Kyle had though it would be a cute thing. The crib was in place as well as an armchair and bookshelf and boxes of toys. There was also a closet filled with clothes in the room and everything was clean.

While the boys had finished the nursery, Jessica and Calleigh had enjoyed a day at a spa. That had been just five days before Jessica's due date. She was now only two days away from her due date and everyone were excited about it.

It was early Monday morning and everyone in the beach house were asleep, except Kyle who was sneaking in as quietly as he could through the door. He had been out with some friends and ended up falling asleep in his car.

"Late night?" Jessica asked from the kitchen just as Kyle was on his way upstairs.

Kyle froze. He was a grown up so there was no need to get Jessica's or his father's permission to go out at night, but it was still a little embarrassing getting caught coming home at such an early hour.

"Um, yeah." Kyle blushed as he peeked in to the kitchen.

Jessica grinned and shook her head.

"Can't sleep?" Kyle asked.

"No, not really."

"Want some company?"

"It's okay Kyle, you can go to sleep. Something tells me you need it." Jessica smiled.

Kyle nodded and yawned; he really missed his big, warm bed. He patted Jessica's shoulder and went upstairs. Jessica drank some tea and looked out the window. The baby was kicking so she couldn't sleep. Horatio was still sleeping though and as Jessica walked back to the bedroom she heard his soft snoring.

Horatio was sprawled out on the lower half of the bed and the sheets only covered his feet. How he always managed to slide down towards the foot of the bed and kick the sheet off most of his body every night, Jessica didn't know. She never felt him move around that much when she was sleeping next to him, but every morning he would wake up in the same position.

As she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek he stirred and mumbled something. Then he snored softly again and Jessica sat down on her side of the bed. She looked at her watch on the nightstand. It was only 03:30.

"This is going to be long night." She sighed and stood up to pull away her sheet.

Suddenly she stopped and looked down at her pants. Had she drank too much tea? Jessica's pants were wet and she gasped as she realized that her water had broken. She looked at herself and just took some deep breaths, it wasn't until she got her first contraction just seconds later that she woke Horatio up.

"Horatio!" She exclaimed.

The red head lifted his head up and looked at his girlfriend confused until he saw her shocked expression. Horatio had tried to prepare himself for the birth of their child as much as possible, but now that it was happening it was like everything he had learned and been told just vanished.

"Um, holy shit!" He exclaimed, "Sit down on the couch."

Horatio lead Jessica towards the living room and then called Alexx, who had told the couple that she wanted to know when Jessica went in to labor so she could help them if they needed it.

"Alexx, Jessica's water just broke!" Horatio said before he even knew who had picked up the phone.

Luckily it was Alexx who had picked up and he heard her surprised yelp as she fell out of the bed from waking up so suddenly.

"_Really? How close are the contractions?_" Alexx asked as she got dressed.

"She's only had one." Horatio said.

"_Okay, if they come closer than 20 minutes it's time to go to the hospital. I'm coming over._" Alexx said.

"Alright, see you soon."

Horatio hung up and smiled as he placed his hand on the belly. Jessica was breathing heavily to calm herself down. Alexx knew on the tone of Horatio's voice that he was completely shocked and scared. It wasn't strange at all and she didn't know anybody who hadn't reacted that way the first time they had become parents.

"Alexx is on her way." Horatio said.

"Good." Jessica panted and closed her eyes for a moment.

Horatio then woke up Kyle, who wasn't sure how he would be able to help, but at least he sat in the living room with his father and Jessica and silently supporter them.

It took fifteen minutes for Alexx to finally arrive and by then Jessica still hadn't got a second contraction. It was obvious that she wasn't going to the hospital just yet.

"Get some pillows." Alexx said to the men.

They quickly took all the pillows they could find and placed them behind Jessica so she could rest against them. Then she finally got another contraction and Horatio held her hand as she groaned in pain. Kyle just sat on a chair and watched. He was stunned. Alexx was rubbing Jessica's back softly and telling her everything would be alright. After a while Kyle got the task of calling Irene, Clark and Henry to let them now that the baby would be born sometime today.

Kyle covered his ears during his phone call to Irene. She screamed of joy and was so happy that she was rambling on about how amazing it was. Kyle had just chuckled and agreed.

After another twenty minutes Jessica got a contraction again, but it still wasn't close enough.

"Oh god, it hurts!" Jessica groaned.

She was beginning to sweat too and squeezed Horatio's hand when it hurt.

"I know sweetheart, but you'll get through this." Horatio said and kissed her cheek softly.

It took two hours before Jessica was able to finally go to the hospital. Kyle was driving, while Alexx and Horatio sat with Jessica in the back, the contractions were coming closer now, but still not so close that it was time to push.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Jessica had to lie down on a gurney and she was taken to a private room. Elijah, her doctor came to examine her. Alexx and Kyle waited outside in the waiting area.

"Well, you're not dilated enough yet." Elijah said, "A few more hours to go I'm afraid."

"Hours?!" Jessica exclaimed, "Oh god."

"Sweetheart, I'll be with you the whole time and you can do this." Horatio whispered in her ear.

Jessica gave him a small smile and then panted as she got yet another contraction.

"This is not unusual for the first time." Elijah said, "The pain will be worth it in the end."

"Of that I have no doubt, but right now it doesn't sound so great to go through this for a few more hours." Jessica panted.

**-I-**

Jessica had been in labor since 03:30 and it was not 10:45. Calleigh was in charge while Horatio was gone and everyone were waiting for any news on how things were going for Jessica and Horatio. Alexx had gone back to the morgue, but Kyle was still at the hospital. He was calling every now and then to let everyone know what was happening.

"So what gender did Kyle say it was?" Ryan asked.

"He said it was a… nah, I'm not going to tell you." Frank smirked.

"Come on Frank, tell me!"

"Why? You'll find out later today anyway." Frank said, "If you must know then you can always call Kyle."

Ryan thought about it, but decided not to. He wasn't the kind of guy that thought it was more fun to expect a baby if you didn't know the gender, but he had just decided to wait and see. And he was going to stick to it.

In the break room Walter and Natalia were counting all the money in the jar that the winners of the baby-bet would divide between themselves.

"It's a lot of money." Walter said, "And since we know the gender we already know if we have won or not."

"Unless the doctor was wrong. When my sister was born, the doctor had told mom and dad that the baby was a boy. Sometimes they can be wrong you know." Natalia smiled.

"Yeah, but usually they're right."

Even though everyone were patiently awaiting the arrival of the baby they managed to focus on their job as well.

**-I-**

At 13:00 no baby had yet to come. Kyle was eating lunch by himself and looking at the clock all the time. Time seemed to have passed slowly, but at least he wasn't in any pain during the long wait. Poor Jessica had been ordered to walk around in the hallway and while she was doing this, she would stop several times as she got contractions. Elijah had told her she was more dilated now, but still not enough. Horatio was with her as she slowly made it back to her room.

"I'm so tired." Jessica sighed as she sat down in the bed.

"Oh honey, I know." Horatio said and caressed her cheek.

"We are not doing this again in at least a year or two." Jessica said and leaned back against the pillow, "It really hurts Horatio."

Jessica wiped a few tears away as they ran down her cheeks. Horatio gave her a soft kiss. He wished he could take the pain for her, but he couldn't. He admired the strength Jessica had and he was grateful that she had yet to hit him in anger.

"I love you Jessica and you are so strong." Horatio smiled, "You're the strongest woman I know."

"Are you saying that so I won't hit you?" Jessica chuckled.

"Of course not."

"Thank you." Jessica smiled and was about to give Horatio a kiss when she got another contraction.

While Horatio and Jessica were in their room, Kyle finished his lunch and went back to the waiting area. He flashed the young nurses in the hallway a smile and winked at them. He was single after all and why couldn't he flirt a little among such gorgeous girls? Some girls giggled, others glared at him, but one particular girl decided to make him blush and when he smiled at her she jumped up in his arms and gave him a kiss. Kyle was stunned and just gaped at the girl as she laughed and walked away.

"You looked like you needed a kiss!" She called back to him and disappeared around the corner.

"Flirting with the nurses, son?" Horatio asked and startled Kyle.

Kyle blushed and shook his head.

"How's it going dad?" He asked.

"Good I guess. Jessica told me to get something to eat." Horatio said.

"And I'm guessing you're not going to?"

"I'm not hungry." Horatio said.

"Dad..."

"I'm really not hungry. There is no way I can eat at a time like this." Horatio said.

Kyle smiled and the two men sat down just outside the room. They sat in silence for a while, until Kyle felt like somebody needed to say something.

"I'm happy to be a part of the family with you and Jessica." Kyle smiled, "And I'm happy to be able to protect the little bundle of joy."

"I'm happy to have you as a part of the family as well Kyle. A very important part of the family." Horatio grinned and patted his son's shoulder, "And by protection you mean fighting off all the boys with a shotgun if the baby is a girl, right?"

"That and to be the one to drive him or her to school in the Buick. Can you imagine how popular the kid will be if I do that?" Kyle chuckled, "Seriously, I will just try to be the best big brother I can and all that it means to be that."

Horatio chuckled and gave his son a hug before going back inside the room to Jessica.

"Still awake?" He asked.

"Barely." Jessica mumbled.

She was breathing heavily and Horatio grabbed her hand as he sat down next to her.

**-I-**

"How much longer can it take?" Ryan whined as he looked at the clock in the morgue.

Alexx rolled her eyes at him.

"Ryan baby, have you even been with a woman in labor or seen a TV show about women in labor?" She asked.

"No."

"So you have no idea what it's like do you?"

"No." Ryan said.

"Ryan, labor can take one hour or it can take 24 hours." Alexx said, "It's different from each woman and there is no way of knowing how long it will take. The first time is usually long, but sometimes it's also short."

Ryan nodded and gave Alexx thumbs up.

"And to wait this long is probably harder for Jessica and Horatio then it is for you Wolfe-man." Jesse grinned, "After all, you're not the one who is in pain."

"I just want to see the baby. We've waited for nine months already." Ryan said, "Think about all the things I could teach him or her."

"I don't think teaching the kid your OCD stuff is a good idea." Jesse teased.

Alexx left the two men bickering about ways to raise children, it was quite fun think that two people who didn't even have children discussed that subject. Ryan's OCD was not a problem, if anything it helped him in cases sometimes. Jesse just couldn't resist the urge to tease him every now and then. Ryan knew this of course.

**-I-**

At 14:30 it was finally time for Jessica to push. She had been in labor for almost 12 hours and she was now waiting for a contraction so she could start pushing. Elijah was ready to grab the baby when it came out and Horatio held Jessica's hand.

When she got a contraction, Jessica screamed and pushed as hard as she could. Horatio winced in pain slightly as Jessica squeezed his hand, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

"Good Jessica, a little more come on!" Elijah smiled.

Jessica pushed again as she got yet another contraction and Horatio her on. When it was over she leaned back against the pillow and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Almost there Jessica." Elijah said.

"You better be honest with me when you say that or I'll smack you!" Jessica growled and waited for the next contraction.

"I am always honest with you." Elijah grinned.

"Oh god!" Jessica screamed in pain as she pushed.

As she laid back down again, Horatio caressed her cheek and gave her soft kiss. Jessica had tears falling from her eyes and she was exhausted.

"Just two more pushes." Elijah said.

"You can do this baby." Horatio smiled.

"I want Oreos after this. A big box of Oreos." Jessica panted.

Oreos was her craving and she hadn't had any for a long time now.

"I will give you as much Oreos as you want." Horatio grinned.

Jessica nodded and then pushed again as she got a contraction. Both Elijah and Horatio cheered her on.

"I can see the head now!" Elijah smiled, "One more push Jessica!"

Jessica took a deep breath and waited for a contraction, when it came she screamed and pushed. She then fell back against the pillow and groaned. She had never been so tired before.

Jessica cried as she heard the baby's cries and Horatio hugged her. A nurse put the baby on Jessica's chest.

"It's a little girl born at 14:38." The nurse smiled, "Does she have a name?"

"Sophia Caine." Jessica grinned and caressed the head of her daughter softly.

"Hi Sophia!" Horatio smiled and started crying too.

Jessica and Horatio couldn't take their eyes off their daughter. Their little baby girl!

While the baby was being cleaned, Horatio went out to tell Kyle the good news.

"It's a girl." He smiled.

"Yes!" Kyle exclaimed and hugged his father, "You won the bet together with the others in the lab who betted for a girl."

"I guess I did huh." Horatio grinned, "Her name is Sophia."

"I'll call the team!" Kyle smiled

**-I-**

The team wanted to give the new family some privacy and that's why decided not to visit straight away, instead they would wait until the following day. Kyle had snapped a photo of Sophia and sent it to everyone in the lab and Irene, Clark and Henry. Now he was holding his baby sister for the first time.

"So what did she weigh?" He asked as he looked down at the sleeping baby girl.

"7 pounds and she's also 19.3 inches." Jessica grinned.

It had been two hours since she had given birth and little Sophia had so far proven to be a quiet baby.

"She's so tiny." Kyle smiled widely.

"She'll get bigger fast though." Horatio said.

He and Jessica were sitting in the bed while Kyle was sitting in the chair next to the bed. Sophia stirred, but didn't wake up. She seemed to be really happy while she was in her big brother's arms.

"When can we take her home?" Kyle asked.

"Hopefully tomorrow." Jessica smiled.

Kyle nodded and gave Sophia a kiss on the cheek. It would be impossible to find a more proud and happy big brother and parents.

"You were wrong by the way." Jessica said.

"About what?" Horatio asked.

"About when you thought she would be born." Jessica smirked.

Horatio just laughed and kissed Jessica deeply.

_**Please review!**_


	26. Chapter 26

There was no doubt that Sophia would have a very protective father, brother and uncles. Not to mention Natalia and Jessica would spoil her. Calleigh promised to teach Sophia how to shot as she got older and Alexx how to hide bodies, at which point Eric also decided to teach her how to hide evidence. Of course, this was all jokes and even though the team would never teach her how to not be caught for a crime, they would protect her with their life. The only person who did stand by her word was Calleigh, she swore to teach Sophia how to use guns when she got old enough to understand it all.

The team was visiting Horatio, Jessica, Kyle and Sophia after their shift. Sophia was only two days old and had come home yesterday. The team had planned to visit earlier, but a case had kept them busy for many hours. Now they were finally able to say hi to the new member of the family.

"Hey baby girl!" Calleigh grinned as she got to hold Sophia.

Sophia squirmed and looked at the smiling blond with wide eyes.

"I think Sophia might believe you're an alien." Jesse teased.

"Just wait until she sees you." Calleigh smirked.

Jesse chuckled and said that there was no way Sophia would cry when he held her. Unfortunately it didn't go as he wanted, because as soon as he held Sophia in his arms, she started crying.

"Told you she would react differently when she saw you!" Calleigh laughed.

Jesse tried to calm Sophia down and failed hard, after a while he handed her over to Frank and Sophia calmed down immidiately.

"Hey! No fair." Jesse smiled.

"I have three kids so I'm a professional." Frank smiled, "Hey there little one!"

Sophia looked so small in Frank's arms. She yawned and made baby noises as Frank held her and Frank remembered what it had been like when he had held his children like this many years ago. Next it was Ryan's turn to hold the baby and even though he was the most nervous one of all, he managed to keep Sophia calm. She looked at him and then glanced back at Frank.  
"She misses me already." Frank grinned.

"Wow, she's tiny. Can't believe we've all been this small once." Ryan said.

"She's so cute!" Natalia smiled and gently caressed Sophia's cheek.

After Ryan, it was Natalia, Eric's and Walters turn. Sophia started to whimper when Walter held her and to calm her down Walter began to sing a little song. The team grinned and believe it or not, Sophia started to fall asleep.

"I don't have kids and I'm already a professional." Walter smiled proudly.

"Beginner's luck." Frank said.

When it was Alexx's turn to hold Sophia, she became alert and decided that Aunt Alexx was the one to throw up on.

"Oh how nice baby girl!" Alexx chuckled.

Alexx was, of course, used to babies and all they could do, so she had no trouble going with Jessica to change Sophia's clothes and borrow one of Jessica's shirts.

"Sorry Alexx." Jessica said.

"It's no trouble sweetheart, my kids did the same when they were babies." Alexx smiled.

Sophia was not happy about having to change clothes. She cried aloud and Jessica spoke softly to her to calm her down. Alexx noticed that the crying bothered Jessica little and she knew why. It was always hard to see your child cry and probably even harder for the first child.

"It's okay Jessica, she has to communicate somehow and this is the only way she can tell us how much she dislikes changing clothes." Alexx smiled.

"It's just so sad you know." Jessica said.

"I know the feeling."

Once Sophia had on fresh clothes she was happy again and liked to stay in mommy's arms as Jessica and Alexx went back to the team in the living room.

"So how's Kyle handling this?" Jesse asked.

"He basically never leaves Sophia alone." Horatio chuckled, "He loves to hold her and sing her goodnight songs."

"Not like my older sisters were towards me then!" Eric laughed.

Eric had told the team stories from his childhood when his older sisters had done everything they could not to have to babysit him and help change the diaper or hold him. It all changed as they got older, but his sisters enjoyed their privacy. Eric couldn't blame them though, the older he got the more of an annoying little brother he became.

After the team had left, Sophia got hungry and while Jessica fed her daughter, Horatio made dinner for himself and her. Kyle was at his mother's place and even though he had found it difficult to tear himself apart from Sophia he had decided to sleep over there. No one had any doubt that Kyle would be home bright and early the following day to spend more time with his little sister. He was really adamant on having a tight bond with Sophia.

Once Sophia was done eating, she fell asleep and Jessica put her in her crib while she herself ate dinner with her man.

"This feels so strange. Suddenly we have a little baby in the house." Jessica grinned.

"It's a good change though." Horatio smiled.

"Absolutely. It's just that, I mean… wow!" Jessica chuckled.

She couldn't believe that she was really Sophia's mother. That she had a daughter with Horatio. A baby to raise and to love. It was definitely a change that would take some time to get used to, but she couldn't imagine being without her daughter. Both Horatio and Sophia were adapting to parenthood pretty quickly and they trusted their ability to take care of their daughter.

"Anybody home?" A male voice called from the doorway.

Jessica and Horatio had been so busy thinking about their baby that they had completely missed that Henry was visiting from Orlando. Unfortunately Irene and Clark couldn't go with him because they had booked a flight to Canada months earlier and had to take it. Of course they had already been sent several of the hundreds of photos that Kyle and Horatio had taken of Sophia.

"Henry?" Jessica asked, "Oh I'm sorry, I completely forgot ou were coming!"

Henry grinned and gave his sister and Horatio a hug.

"Don't worry." He smiled, "So where's the little girl?"

Horatio and Jessica lead him their bedroom, where Sophia's crib was placed for now. She would move in to the nursery in a few weeks.

Henry grinned and actually got tears in his eyes as he looked down at the sleeping baby girl.

"She's adorable." He whispered and gently caressed her cheek, "I see she's got some red hair."

"And blue eyes." Jessica smiled.

"She has more of your facial features though sis. Your nose and lips."

"And ears." Horatio smiled.

When the time came for Sophia to have a diaper change, Henry was glad to do it. Horatio picked his crying daughter up from the crib and gave her to Henry, who had never held a baby before.

"She's so small." He grinned.

Horatio and Henry went to the bathroom and Henry was now faced with the task of changing diapers on Sophia, which wasn't easy since he had never done it before and he worried that he was taking too long. Sophia whimpered and glanced at Horatio the whole time.

As Henry took off the dirty diaper he grimaced at the smell and Horatio laughed and pointed at the trash can next to him.

"Oh god what a smell!" Henry said and then held up a new diaper.

"Is this the front or back?" He asked himself as he looked at the diaper.

Horatio silently laughed as Henry put the diaper on the wrong way, he realized his mistake after it was on and chuckled at himself.

"Ops, sorry baby girl. Wrong way." Henry said and put the diaper on right.

Sophia stopped whimpering when Henry picked her up carefully. She just made some baby noises every now and then as Henry sat down in the living room and Horatio took the opportunity to snap a photo of the uncle and his niece.

"This makes me want to have my own kids." Henry grinned.

Jessica chuckled. Henry was a man who enjoyed living on his own with no long-time relationships. He would be a great father if he found the right girl and decided to settle down.

"You can always babysit." Jessica said.

"Really?"

"Well, not now. Maybe in a few years." Horatio smirked.

Jessica chuckled and ruffled Horatio's hair. The thought of letting someone babysit his daughter did not sit well with the Lt. at the moment. Jessica also knew it would take a few months before they decided to take some time for themselves and let someone babysit Sophia.

"I guess me and Kyle will be fighting over her." Henry chuckled.

"Without a doubt." Jessica grinned.

Henry held Sophia for a long time before she cried and didn't settle down until she was in mommy's arms. Being an uncle fit him well. Henry stayed the night at Horatio and Jessica's home and slept so heavily that he didn't hear Sophia cry in the middle of the night for food.

Even though Jessica and Horatio were tired when they had to wake up, they loved the moments when they sat together in bed and just watched as Sophia fed.

"She will have a temper with that red hair." Jessica smiled as she fed her daughter.

"Oh yes. I think she'll become the most popular girl in school too." Horatio said, "And everyone will be afraid to meet her father."

"Of that I have no doubt." Jessica chuckled and then gave Horatio a kiss.

_**Please review!**_


	27. Chapter 27

Being back at work wasn't easy for Horatio after he had been home for two weeks with Jessica and Sophia. The same morning that he was going to have to return to the lab he spent several minutes watching his little girl sleep in the crib. Jessica had been asleep in their bed. Now Horatio was sitting in his office, drinking coffee and just staring the paperwork before him. Calleigh had been in charge of the lab while he had been gone and she had done most of his paperwork for him, but every day there was a new file that needed to be read and signed. Always something new.

"It's hard isn't it?" Alexx smiled from the doorway.

She could relate to how Horatio was feeling. She felt it became easier to leave for work as the children got older and more independent, but it was especially hard when you had a little baby in the house.

"It's harder than I thought it would be." Horatio sighed.

"Sugar, it's going to be alright." Alexx smiled.

"I know. But this is the first time that I haven't wanted to come in for work in my entire life." Horatio said.

Alexx had felt the same way when she had become a mother. Now it was different. Her children were teenagers and more independent. They went to school and mommy went to work.

When Alexx left, Horatio grabbed the top file from his stack and started reading it. It was difficult to concentrate on reading and often his mind decided that instead of thinking about the context of the file, he was going to think of Sophia.

Horatio had to struggle to keep focused on his job. It did get easier though when the team had to split up between two crime scenes. Horatio pushed his thoughts about Sophia aside while he interviewed witnesses and helped process the crime scene. It wasn't until lunch that he was able to push work aside and call home. Jessica picked up after a while and she sounded like she had ran to the phone.

"Busy?" Horatio asked with amusement clear in his voice.

"_Our daughter decided that the couch was the perfect place to throw up on._" Jessica said, "_And while I was cleaning she was lying in the sitter and then I felt this awful smell. So I had just changed her diaper and I still have the couch left to clean._"

"Seems like she's keeping you on your feet." Horatio chuckled.

"_You have no idea._" Jessica grinned, "_So how has your day been so far?_"

"Busy. I have two crime scenes to go between and it's hard being away from you and Sophia."

"_It's hard not having you here too. I think Sophia misses you._" Jessica smiled, "_I miss you too of course._"

"I miss both of as well. It's going to be a long day, that's for sure."

"_Without a doubt._" Jessica agreed.

Horatio and Jessica talked some more before Frank and Walter entered the break room and started making noise as they put plates for the team on the table. After Horatio and Jessica had hung up, he glared playfully at the two men.

"What?" Frank asked, "We got pizza on the way for everyone."

Horatio smiled and the rest of the team arrived together with the pizza. Everyone sat down to eat. Sometimes the team missed lunch because of cases, but the Chief had made it clear that they needed to eat something for lunch so they didn't get too tired the rest of the shift. It was their new Chief and unlike the old one he understood the importance of eating food.

"So how are Jessica and Sophia doing at home?" Calleigh asked.

Horatio told her what his daughter had done to keep mommy busy all morning.

"Just wait until I teach her some mischief." Frank smirked, "She won't give you a calm day ever again."

"Why do you want to teach her that?" Horatio asked.

"Easy! So I can see you flustered." Frank smirked evilly.

Horatio chuckled and shook his head. He had no doubt that Kyle would also teach his little sister some mischief.

**-I-**

When Horatio got home Sophia was awake and smiled at the sight of her father. Horatio picked her up from her sitter and kissed her cheek.

"Hey baby girl, daddy missed you so much today." Horatio smiled and caressed Sophia's head gently.

"Where is mommy huh?" He asked and peeked inside the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room. When he couldn't find her downstairs he checked the upstairs where there was another bathroom, Kyle's room and Horatio's home office. Then it hit him! He had forgotten to check the nursery.

It was there he found Jessica kneeling on the floor and looking under the armchair. Horatio admired the view for a moment until Sophia made a noise to let mommy know they were watching her.

"Hi, Horatio! I didn't hear you come home." Jessica smiled and stood up to give him a kiss.

"No worries. What are you doing?"

"Trying to find and smash an ugly looking spider." Jessica shuddered.

Jessica wasn't afraid of spiders but she didn't like them either and she had no problem smashing them. Horatio chuckled.

"It went under the chair and I'm going to find it sooner or later." Jessica said and waved with the newspaper in her hands.

"You probably scared it to death when you chased after it with the newspaper."

"Those little ones are quick." Jessica said, "But sooner or later I'm going to get it."

Horatio laughed and pulled Jessica in for a kiss. Sophia let them know she didn't like mommy and daddy paying attention to each other instead of her. She started whimpering and her parents looked down at her.

"This little girl apparently woke up. She was asleep when I started chasing the spider." Jessica smiled.

The front door opened and there was no way anyone could miss that Kyle was coming home.

"Where is my little sister? Where is she?" He called and found his family in the nursery.

He grinned widely and reached his arms out for Sophia, completely forgetting to say hi to his father and Jessica.

"Hi Kyle." Horatio smiled amused.

"Hi dad, Hi Jessica. Hello my adorable little baby sister." Kyle smiled widely, "Yes hello to you!"

While Kyle snuggled with Sophia, Horatio and Jessica made dinner. When it was ready it was almost impossible to get Kyle to focus on the food instead of Sophia.

"If you go outside with Sophia you will have so many girls around you." Jessica chuckled.

"I know. And they will be so happy to hear that I'm single." Kyle smirked, "Maybe I can take Sophia to school one day."

Horatio choked on his water and shot Kyle a playful glare.

"Never." He said.

Kyle chuckled and gave Sophia a kiss on the forehead. He caressed her cheek and then grimaced as he lifted his hand up to his eyes. It was covered in drool.

"That's a lot of drool." He said, "And what is that smell?"

"You've never smelled a dirty diaper before?" Jessica asked amused.

Kyle shook his head. Then he was given the task of changing Sophia's diaper. When he came back he smiled.

"She only did number one so I was lucky this time."

"Next time she does number two I'm handing her over to you." Jessica smirked.

Horatio chuckled at Kyle's horrified look. Kyle was of course only joking. He had seen dead people in the morgue so a little dirty diaper and drool didn't bother him.

After dinner Kyle was the one to put Sophia to sleep as her eyes got heavy. Horatio and Jessica took the opportunity to take a shower together and laughed as they heard Kyle desperately sing to make Sophia stop crying.

"It'll be so fun to see how he handles it when Sophia gets tantrums." Horatio chuckled.

Jessica laughed and nodded in agreement.

_**Please review!**_


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Sorry for the long up****date, but I haven't had any Internet connection for a week. I am now on my father's work computer. My own computer still has no internet connection.**

_**Dolly**_**: No need to worry, I'm fine. Just going a little bit crazy without internet, lol.**

**-I-**

Sophia was 5 weeks old when her big brother was babysitting her for the first time. Jessica was visiting a friend at the hospital and Kyle had told her to go there alone while he took care of Sophia. Horatio was at work; a triple homicide had required his attention.

Kyle was lying on his back on the couch while he carefully held Sophia in his hands above his face. He gave her en Eskimo kiss and Sophia laughed. So far so good. What Kyle didn't know was that he would have a few challenging hours ahead of him. Without warning, Sophia suddenly threw up right in Kyle's face. Kyle froze and then sat up slowly. He worked extra at the morgue and saw dead people a few days every week so a little baby vomiting didn't scare him.

_But the smell was unbearable!_

Kyle placed Sophia in her sitter while he went to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

"Oh jesus, what a smell!" He groaned as he splashed water in his face.

When he was going to dry his face he reached out and touched something he felt like he could use. He didn't realize it was his father's blue shirt until it was too late.

"Shit." Kyle cursed and threw the shirt in the washing machine and then started the machine. He had no idea that the shirt was now being washed with red and pink clothes that belonged to Jessica and Sophia.

Kyle sighed and went back to the living room. He sighed heavily as he saw that the couch had also got some of Sophia's vomit on it. While Kyle cleaned the couch, Sophia watched and chuckled every now and then. When he was done Kyle picked up Sophia and smiled at her. Sophia smiled back and then her smile suddenly faded and she broke out in tears.

"You hungry? Tired?" Kyle asked.

Of course Sophia couldn't answer him and the cries just got louder. Kyle tried to entertain her with some songs and toys, but when that didn't work he put her in her crib. Sophia just cried louder when she was put in the crib so Kyle picked her up again.

"Food maybe?" Kyle asked and went to the kitchen.

He didn't want to disturb Jessica or Horatio by calling them and ask them what to do. Kyle was determined to handle Sophia on his own. He found some milk in the fridge and tried to see if Sophia was interested in drinking. Sophia was not. She just cried and Kyle sighed.

"Now what do I do?" He asked himself and ran a hand through his hair, "Aha! Road trip."

Kyle had not failed to notice how riding in a car always seemed to calm babies down and put them to sleep. Sophia did calm down some when she was put in her car seat and Kyle started driving through the neighbourhood. But soon she didn't like it and she started crying again. Kyle felt himself getting desperate to calm her down. He hated to hear her cry. It broke his heart every time.

"_Hush little baby, please don't cry_." Kyle sang, but it didn't work.

When Kyle got back home, Sophia had stopped crying but she still didn't look happy. As soon as Kyle tried to put her in the crib she would start whining and if he didn't pick her up within seconds she would scream.

Kyle decided to try one last thing and take Sophia for a walk on the beach with her stroller. It did the trick, because Sophia started falling asleep while Kyle fought to make the stroller move through the sand. By the time he had only got about 130 feet from the house he was already panting and sweating.

"I wonder if this is what dad and Jessica do when they take you for a walk on the beach." Kyle said to the sleeping Sophia, "Now that I think of it, they probably don't take the stroller along with them."

After thirty minutes Kyle reached a sidewalk and turned back home. He was happy to finally walk on asphalt and not sand. Sophia continued to sleep all the way home and inside the house again. She didn't wake up until Kyle put her in her crib. She whimpered and looked at Kyle with sad eyes. Kyle shrugged and picked her up.

Brother and sister enjoyed an hour of fun and play. During that hour Kyle grew more and more tired and could barely keep his eyes open. However, Sophia wanted to make sure he stayed awake. She made baby noises and when she felt that she was losing Kyle's attention she whimpered to remind him that she wanted to play. What felt like an eternity was really just three hours and when Jessica got home, Kyle was almost asleep on the couch with Sophia on his chest. Sophia was drooling and Jessica snapped a photo.

"Have fun?" Jessica asked.

"She threw up on me and on the couch. She cried and cried and we took a walk. Then she wanted to play." Kyle yawned, "How do you do it every day?"

"It's easy if you make it easy. Think positive and it will all just be easier." Jessica smiled and picked up her daughter.

Sophia smiled at her mother. Kyle closed his eyes and soon fell asleep. He slept until it was time for dinner and then slept some more after that. Kyle had to babysit again as Jessica took a shower, but this time it was easier. Sophia wasn't tired or cranky. She was happy but calm. She just enjoyed spending some time in her brother's arms and watch TV with him.

Once Jessica had finished her shower, the trio sat in front of the TV waiting for Horatio to come.

**-I-**

"Do you think Kyle had been scarred for life?" Horatio asked the following morning.

Horatio had laughed so hard that he had cried when Kyle had told him all about his three hours of babysitting.

"Nah, he'll be okay." Jessica smiled, "What are you looking for by the way?"

Horatio was searching through his closet for his blue shirt that he needed. He was going to need it for work, because the rest of his shirts were in the laundry basket.

"My blue shirt, didn't I leave it in here yesterday?"

"No, you left it in the bathroom so you wouldn't have to search for it." Jessica smiled.

"Oh right." Horatio chuckled and went to find his shirt.

Jessica went to the nursery to get Sophia who had woke up and was now crying for attention. Sophia smiled when she saw her mother. Then there was suddenly a manly yelp from the bathroom and Jessica and Sophia went to investigate. They found Horatio standing in the bathroom, holding what used to be his blue shirt, but was now his pink shirt.

"What the? How? I didn't wash it... How did it?" Horatio asked, "What am I going to wear now?"

"You got nothing else to put on?" Jessica asked.

"No."

"Then you have no choice but to wear it." Jessica shrugged.

"The boys are going to tease me about for the rest of my life! Especially Frank." Horatio whined.

"You can always give them one of your famous death glares." Jessica smirked.

"Famous death glares?"

"Yeah, you know when you look at a suspect or criminal and give them that glare."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Horatio shook his head.

He sighed sadly as he glanced at his pink shirt.

"I will look to awful in pink." He muttered.

Jessica just chuckled. When Kyle came down the stairs and saw his dad wearing a pink shirt he almost had a heart attack. Not because it was incredibly funny to see Horatio in a pink shirt, but because he then realized it was pink because of him! Something red had been in the washing machine the evening before and he hadn't seen it.

"Kyle do you know how my blue shirt became pink?" Horatio asked.

"I have no idea." Kyle said.

"Somebody washed it with red clothes." Horatio muttered.

"Yeah, somebody did." Kyle agreed.

_**Please review!**_


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: I got my internet connection back finally! **

**-I-**

Taking care of an 8 weeks old baby when the father and big brother were sick with the flue wasn't as easy as Jessica had thought. Kyle slept most of the day and barely ate anything. Horatio needed to sleep but was so worried about putting Jessica under too much stress that he didn't fall asleep until he almost collapsed. Not to mention Sophia usually cried for attention when her father and brother were asleep and since Horatio and Jessica were closest to her, it meant that Horatio was often woken up from his sleep by her cries. Jessica had to take care of the house and the child by herself and as challenging as it was, she didn't complain. Everybody got sick every now and then.

"If you don't get in that bed mister I will call Alexx and have her babysit you!" Jessica warned as she once again found Horatio in the nursery holding Sophia.

Sophia was whimpering and Jessica guessed she was hungry.

"She was crying." Horatio said.

"And I was only one minute away from picking her up." Jessica sighed, "Look Horatio, you need to rest if you want to get better."

"I have rested."

"Really? How much in the past two days?" Jessica asked with a raised eyebrow.

Horatio looked down at his feet. The truth was that he was very tired and really missed his warm bed. But he also didn't want Jessica to care for Sophia all by herself now that nobody else could help her. Jessica had to think about herself too.

"Sweetheart, I promise you that I'm fine." Jessica said.

"Yeah okay. Maybe I shouldn't be around Sophia while I'm sick anyway." Horatio sighed and handed his daughter over to Jessica.

Jessica gave him a small smile and a kiss on the cheek. Sophia cried louder now that she was really getting hungry. Horatio leaned against the wall and yawned.

"See that's a sign for being tired." Jessica said, "Now get your cute butt in bed before I smack you."

"You can't tell a man that his butt is cute." Horatio said.

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't want to hear it! Wouldn't you rather hear that your butt is _sexy_?"

"It doesn't really matter to me." Jessica shrugged.

"Well a man would much rather hear that a butt is _sexy_ rather than _cute_." Horatio smiled, "You've got a very sexy ass by the way."

"Thanks. Now go to bed." Jessica said in a motherly tone and then left to feed her daughter.

Horatio obeyed and went to bed. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He didn't wake up until hours later and then he heard someone in the kitchen cooking. As he got up he was reminded of the headache he had had earlier.

"Stupid flue." Horatio muttered and then frowned as he heard Jessica talking to someone.

Horatio tiptoed to the kitchen and peeked inside. Alexx was there!

"Horatio sweetheart, if you want to sneak up on somebody don't sniffle while you do it." Alexx said with her back turned towards him, "It's a big give-away."

Horatio chuckled and then coughed. Alexx stuck a thermometer in his mouth and smirked at his growl.

"You said you'd only call Alexx _if_ I _didn't_ go to sleep." Horatio said and looked at the thermometer and then at Jessica.

"Alexx called me. Besides isn't an aunt allowed to see her niece even if you're sick?" Jessica smirked.

"I'm not sick."

"Yes you are. You have a fever of 102." Alexx said, "And a cough, a runny nose and should I mention the very obvious headache?"

"How do you know I have a headache?" Horatio asked.

"You always rub your temples when you do."

"I see they don't pay you for nothing." Horatio smirked, "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Absolutely. I'm going to make sure you eat something." Alexx said.

Horatio rolled his eyes and gave her a playful glare. Jessica made sure he ate at least three meals a day. When dinner was done Alexx stayed true to her words and watched Horatio like a hawk as he ate. Jessica chuckled at Horatio's obvious misery of being under Alexx's supervision.

"There, I'm all done." Horatio smiled.

"Good boy! Not bad for someone with a cute butt." Alexx teased.

"She told you?" Horatio asked.

"We're girls, we tell everything to each other." Jessica shrugged, "And I stick to what I said… you do have a _cute_ butt."

"A man's butt is not cute!" Horatio exclaimed, "It's either sexy or not sexy."

Jessica and Alexx shook their heads and laughed. Horatio gave up.

When Alexx went home an hour later, Horatio was almost asleep on the couch. He barely responded when Jessica poked his arm.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" She said teasingly.

"If I didn't love you so much I would hurt you for poking me." Horatio smirked evilly.

"I would hurt you more for hurting me." Jessica chuckled, "Hey, don't fall asleep on the couch. The bed is much nicer."

Horatio nodded and sleepily made his way towards the bed. Jessica didn't have to make sure he was asleep because his soft snoring was soon heard. Instead Jessica cleaned the dishes from dinner and then watched some TV with Sophia. Later at night, after Sophia had fallen asleep again, Jessica climbed down in bed next to Horatio.

"Goodnight." She whispered, although she didn't think he was awake.

"Goodnight." Horatio responded quietly.

Jessica smiled and kissed his cheek. She soon fell asleep and didn't wake up until early in the morning when Sophia needed food again. Horatio was still asleep and mumbled something when Jessica got out of bed.

"Hey there little one!" Jessica smiled and picked up her daughter.

Sophia smiled at her mother. She was so much like Horatio when she smiled in the morning. Jessica was usually grumpy, but Horatio always had a smile to give. Just like Sophia.

After Jessica was done feeding Sophia she took her in to the bedroom she shared with Horatio and sat down in the bed. Horatio woke up and smiled at his girlfriend and baby daughter.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi, you slept for a long time." Jessica smiled.

"I guess I needed it." Horatio shrugged.

Jessica touched his forehead and smiled.

"You're not as hot anymore." She said.

"Really? That's not good, I always thought I got more hot everyday you saw me." Horatio teased.

Jessica chuckled and slapped him lightly on the arm.

"You know what I mean." She said, "I wonder if Sophia will have your sense of humor when she gets older. Just think about how much she will tease her friends and teachers."

"I will teach her everything I know about it." Horatio said.

Jessica shook her head. Sophia smiled at her father and Horatio gently caressed her head.

"We should get married someday."

Jessica was stunned and looked at Horatio for several seconds.

"When did you think of this?" She asked

"Just now."

"Well, I agree we should get married someday." Jessica smiled, "Um, but not now."

"No, I think we'll let Sophia get a bit older maybe. Or I don't know... I'm just telling you that I'm going to marry you one day." Horatio grinned.

"You'll make me the happiest woman on earth. If it's even possible."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I _already_ am the happiest woman on earth. Because I'm with you and we have Sophia together." Jessica smiled and gave Horatio a deep kiss.

"And I'm the happiest man on earth." Horatio said, "But we're still getting married someday."

"Without a doubt." Jessica smiled, "Maybe it's good for you to be sick once in a while, you certainly come up with some great ideas."

Horatio chuckled, "I'm not sick. I'm just a little bit out of shape."

Jessica just laughed.

_**Please review!**_


	30. Chapter 30

** AN: Rated T for safety.**

It had started as a normal day for Jessica. Sophia, who was now 11 weeks old, had woke her up later than usual. Jessica fed her and even gave her a bath before eating her own breakfast. Sophia was in a good mood and "talked" almost non-stop. Jessica loved the sound of her laughter as she tickled her daughter.

At lunch however, everything changed. Jessica had just turned on the TV and almost passed out right away. Erica Sykes was reporting that somebody had just taken the Miami Dade Crime lab techs and CSIs as hostage. Jessica sat down on the couch and breathed heavily. Horatio was in the lab. The camera man filmed the area in front of the lab and Jessica saw Eric and Frank on the scene.

Quickly, Jessica turned off the TV and decided to head to the lab. Sophia noticed the change in her mother's mood and knew something was wrong. Jessica broke many traffic laws on her way to the lab and when she got there she went with Sophia in her arms, towards Frank. She was stopped by some officers that were trying to keep people away on a safe distance.

"Frank!" Jessica called.

Frank turned around and was surprised to see Jessica. He had just tried calling her house and she hadn't answered. Now he knew why. Frank nodded for the officers to let her through

"Jessica, what are you doing here?" Frank asked, "I just tried to call you."

"I saw on the TV. Is Horatio in there? Please tell me he's not." Jessica begged and Frank could see that she was on the verge of tears.

Frank rubbed her back softly and shook his head.

"He is in there. The whole team is." Frank sighed, "The guy who is holding them hasn't tried to make contact with us yet."

"How could he take the entire lab as hostage?" Eric asked.

"When we hacked in to the surveillance cameras and looked, we saw that he was holding Natalia as a shield. He forced everyone to put down their guns." Frank said and nodded towards a computer station, where several detectives were watching to see what was going on.

"SWAT is on their way and they want to cut the power." Frank said.

"Why?" Jessica asked.

"He can't go anywhere if we do. He can't use the elevator or go to the evidence locker. Nothing." Eric sighed, "The bad part about it is that it could trigger him to do something stupid."

"You mean hurting someone." Jessica said, "You don't think anybody is hurt do you?"

"No." Frank said, although he left out that he wasn't so sure it would continue that way.

**-I-**

Inside the lab, everyone had been forced to lie on the floor in front of the elevator. So far nobody had gotten hurt. However, the man holding them as hostage was nervous and agitated. He would easily snap and hurt them. He had a revolver in one hand and a knife in the other.

"Where is the evidence locker?" He man asked.

Nobody answered and the man got angry.

"Where is the evidence locker?!" He growled, "Tell me or I will shoot one of you."

The team glanced at each other and finally Ryan nodded towards a room right behind the receptionist desk. Just as the guy moved to open the door, the power was cut off.

"What?!" He exclaimed, "Who cut the power?"

"SWAT." Horatio said.

"Tell them to put it back on."

"I can't do that." Horatio said.

The guy growled and kicked at the wall. He picked up the phone and when it didn't work he threw it towards Ryan and Natalia, who luckily weren't hit by it.

"What is the number to the cops outside?" The guy asked as he pulled his cell phone out.

Horatio gave him Frank's number because he knew Frank would be outside. The guy dialed and Frank picked up right away.

"_Frank_."

"I want the power back on so I can go inside the evidence locker." The man demanded.

"_SWAT turned it off and it's not coming back on_."

"I will have to shoot someone then."

"_What is your name?_"

"You can call me Zep."

"_Okay, Zep listen, the power is off. I might be able to put it back on if you tell me why you want to access to the evidence locker._" Frank said.

"I want to take some evidence from my own case. I am not going to jail."

"_What case?_"

"I'm not about to tell you that!" Zep growled, "Now turn the power back on!"

With that said Zep hung up and sighed heavily. He knew he was in trouble. But he had a jet waiting for him so all he needed was to find the evidence in the right case, take it with him and leave the country.

**-I-**

"Can we get a picture of this guy?" Frank asked.

A lab tech from the night shift who was working with the computers nodded and replayed the tape. He stopped it at the right time and got a picture of Zep's face.

"Run it through the database." Frank said.

It didn't take long before Zep's face popped up on an old charge for manslaughter. Frank recognized his real name and knew that the evidence he wanted to take away was from a murder charge that could put Zep in jail for the rest of his life.

"Blaine Hicks." Eric said, "You know the case?"

"Yeah, he murdered a woman when he tried to rob her. He shot her with a gun and left. We have his fingerprints on her purse and the tape from the ATM where it happened. He said he was innocent but the evidence proves the opposite." Frank sighed, "He probably knew we were going to bring him in today."

"So he decided to do this instead?" Jessica asked in disbelief.

"It seems so." Frank said, "We need to get SWAT inside the building."

"Wait, Frank, this guy is not stable. If you let SWAT storm the place, he will kill the hostage." Eric said.

"Where is Alexx?" Jessica asked, "And Kyle? He is working in the morgue today with her."

"Jessica you're a genius!" Frank smiled and hurried off towards the morgue.

Since the morgue had a different door then the lab for body transports, it would be perfect to use to gain access to the lab without Blaine seeing them. As Frank, Eric and Jessica went to the morgue they heard Alexx and Kyle talking while performing an autopsy, completely unaware of what was happening in the lab.

"Alexx, leave quickly. You too Kyle." Frank said as he burst through the doors to the autopsy theatre.

"What?" Kyle asked, "Jessica, what are you doing here?"

"Blaine Hicks has taken the lab as hostage." Eric said, "Since you're down here you didn't know it. Through the morgue we can peek inside the lab without him knowing it, if we use the door that leads from the lab to the morgue."

"Dad is there right?" Kyle asked, becoming pale.

"Yes, now I need all of you to leave." Frank said, "You're not cops and this could be dangerous."

Kyle nodded and started leaving with Alexx. Jessica stayed behind for a while.

"Whatever happens, bring him home alive please." She sobbed.

Frank nodded and gave her a supporting hug. Eric patted her shoulder. Jessica went after Kyle and Alexx and as they stood outside the morgue, Sophia started crying.

"Oh, she's hungry." Jessica sobbed.

Alexx lead Jessica and Kyle further away from the lab, towards a bench where they could sit down. There was nothing they could do but hope that Frank and Eric managed to get the situation under control. Unfortunately, Frank and Eric were not able to do anything to help because when they peeked inside the lab and saw Blaine, they realized that they wouldn't be able to get closer without him seeing them.

"Time to get SWAT to do something." Eric sighed heavily.

**-I-**

Horatio and Ryan had seen Frank and Eric and knew that this would soon be over. They glanced at each other and Horatio nodded, they were going to do something soon. Something to bring Blaine down. As Horatio started coming up with an idea on how to do it, Ryan simply prepared himself to make a quick decision once Horatio decided how to act. Since they couldn't talk to each other they had to trust that they knew what the other one was thinking and hope that it would work.

It didn't take long before Horatio was forced to act. When he saw two SWAT members peeking through the same door as Frank and Eric, Horatio knew that he had to distract Blaine, (or rather who he thought was still named Zep), from that direction.

"Let us go please." A lab tech begged.

Zep sighed and glared at the woman.

"Just keep quiet." He growled.

But the woman could no longer keep quiet and she started crying. Horatio knew that he would have to change his plan. He had figured he would get Zep to focus on him, but instead he had to do something else. Zep turned to face the woman, who was a new member of the lab.

"I said be quiet!" Zep growled and aimed his revolver at her head.

Horatio jumped up on his feet and ran towards Zep. He knocked him down on the ground and the two rolled around on the floor, fighting for the gun. Horatio had completely forgotten about the knife that Zep had in the other hand. As Horatio and Zep fought for the gun, Ryan jumped up and grabbed Zep's legs. He pulled him back and at that moment SWAT stormed the place.

Ryan lost his grip of Zep's legs and got a kick to the face because of it. He fell backwards and then everyone froze as Horatio aimed the revolver at Zep.

"On the floor, hands above your head. Now!" Horatio demanded.

Zep nodded and got down on the floor. He was arrested by SWAT and Horatio slid down the wall. He knew he had been cut by the knife on his upper arm.

"Alexx is going to kill me." He muttered.

"Why would she do that?" Walter asked, "You saved us."

Horatio pointed at the long and deep cut on his arm and the team felt sympathy for him. Alexx would certainly give him a tongue lashing for getting himself in danger again. Jessica would probably join too. Although, they all knew that it was only because they were shook up and the fear of losing him made them lash out. Not to mention, Horatio could give them his innocent puppy-face and be forgiven in no time.

As the team made it outside the building, two paramedics lead Horatio to their ambulance even though Horatio protested and said he was fine. He was only there for a second when he heard a female voice calling his name.

Horatio had never felt happier than when he saw Jessica walk quickly towards him with Sophia in her arms. It was then he realized what he could have lost today. He could have lost his two girls and his son.

"Jessica, I've never been happier to see you!" Horatio smiled and kissed her as he embraced her.

Kyle was right behind her. Jessica cried and kissed Horatio all over his face.

"I saw on the TV what had happened." Jessica said, "I've never been so scared before. Not even when I was a hostage myself."

Horatio kissed her and then looked down at his baby girl. Sophia was awake and smiled at her father. Horatio took her in to his arms, even if his injured arm hurt, and kissed her cheek.

"Hey there sweetheart, daddy missed you all day!" Horatio smiled.

"Horatio Caine where are you!" An angry female voice called and soon Alexx was standing in front of Horatio.

"What have I told you about getting yourself in to dangerous situations?" Alexx asked, her hands on her hips just like Horatio used to do.

Horatio glanced at his team and they innocently looked down at the ground. Of course they had told Alexx what had happened; Horatio was the hero of the day after all.

"Well, I did it to save a member of the lab. As I believe you would have done if you had been in the same situation." Horatio smiled.

Alexx knew she was losing.

"Oh, what am I thinking? I can't be angry at you for saving her. Just don't hurt yourself in the process next time." Alexx said and gave him a hug, "And after you get checked up at the hospital, you go home and spend all day and night with your family."

"That won't be a problem." Horatio chuckled.

Kyle then hugged his father hard and could feel tears of his own threatening to fall. He hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation until he had seen his father hurt.

"It's okay, Kyle. I'm still here." Horatio smiled.

Kyle nodded and then took Sophia from Horatio, since Horatio needed to take a ride with the ambulance to the hospital.

"We'll be right behind you." Jessica said as the doors closed and the ambulance drove away.

**-I-**

Horatio's arm would hurt and be sore for a few weeks as the cut healed. But it was nothing he couldn't handle. After coming home from the hospital, he had enjoyed a family dinner and the game of Monopoly. Kyle had won and Horatio had got in last place. All because he had to pay Kyle money the whole time.

Now Horatio was telling a bedtime story to Sophia and even though she didn't understand a word he said, she seemed to have a good time while daddy made funny motions with his good arm as he told her the story of Robin Hood.

"And that, Sophia, is the story of Robin Hood." Horatio smiled and gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead.

"That was greatly told." Jessica smiled from the doorway and startled Horatio.

He turned around and gave her a smile. Sophia started falling asleep, so Horatio and Jessica left her alone.

"I'm sorry that I scared you today." Horatio whispered as he embraced Jessica.

"Horatio, what you did today was very brave. Yes, I was scared but that's not because of anything you did. It's because of what that man did." Jessica said.

Horatio nodded and the two moved towards the bedroom.

"How did your parents react when you told them?" Horatio asked as he kissed her neck.

"They worried about you and mom probably won't believe that you're fine until she can see for herself that you're still in one piece." Jessica said, "Dad says he's proud and Henry wants all the details next time we see him."

Horatio chuckled and then closed the bedroom door. When he locked it, Jessica raised her eyebrows at him.

"We don't have any sneaky children that will open the door." She grinned.

"No, but we better get used to locking the door though. In the future we will have sneaky children." Horatio grinned and kissed her deeply.

_**Please review!**_


	31. Chapter 31

At 3 and a half months old, Sophia had yet to be babysat by anybody besides Kyle. Or even babysat for several hours. Jessica had no idea that Horatio had organized so that Clark and Irene would babysit their grandchild, while Jessica enjoyed a few hours at a spa and then dinner later on the evening.

So when Jessica had woken up at nine, she had been so surprised to see her mom and dad in the hallway, holding Sophia.

"We are just staying for a while and then we have to leave with this little angel." Irene smiled.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked.

"Well, you are going to a spa in two hours and Irene and Clark are babysitting Sophia." Horatio said, "Kyle and I have some important things to tend to while you're at the spa. And then when you come home we'll just relax, until it's time for dinner."

Jessica raised her eyebrows at him. It wasn't her birthday, so whatever Horatio had planned had to do with something else.

"Um, okay. Sounds great!" She smiled.

Once Irene and Clark left an hour later with Sophia, Jessica and Horatio drove to the spa.

"Horatio, what have you planned?" Jessica asked.

"Nothing. Just a relaxing day and a romantic dinner with the woman I love." Horatio grinned.

"I know you! You have planned something else."

"My lips are sealed." Horatio smirked.

Once Jessica had been dropped off at the spa, Horatio went back to downtown Miami where he met up with Kyle outside their favourite Italian restaurant. The owner, Alesio, was a good friend of Horatio's.

"Hi, dad!" Kyle smiled, "So how curious is she?"

"Very curious, although she's not asking very many questions. She just has a gut feeling that something will happen later today." Horatio said.

"Well, something will."

"Kyle, Horatio! How are you?" Alesio asked as he stood in the door to his restaurant.

"Good, Alesio, good. Everything set for tonight?" Horatio asked.

Alesio nodded and then went inside, with Kyle and Horatio after him. Alesio had made sure that Jessica and Horatio would seated by the best table, right at the ocean, just like the couple loved. He had also made room for their friends and family to hide and wait in the kitchen. The restaurant had been booked and therefore no other people than Horatio, Jessica and the people they considered family would be there. Alesio would cook their food together with his wife.

"Everything is in order." Alesio smiled widely, "I cannot believe this day has finally come."

"Neither can I." Kyle agreed.

Horatio chuckled. He was nervous. He could stare down criminals and he could stand in front of a madman with a gun pointed at his face without flinching, but what he was going to do tonight was making him very nervous, but also excited.

"We had originally decided to wait, but… I can't wait any longer." Horatio smiled.

"Where is Irene and Clark by the way?" Kyle asked.

"At Alexx's place. Everybody else are probably there too. Even if it's several hours left before the big moment." Horatio said, "Jessica thinks Irene and Clark are on their way back to Orlando."

"When will all of us come here to hide?" Kyle asked.

"I think fifteen minutes before Jessica and I arrive should be enough." Horatio said.

"Do you have the ring?" Alesio asked.

"Of course." Horatio smiled.

Kyle patted his father's shoulder. It was impossible to miss how much Horatio was looking forward to the big moment at their dinner.

**-I-**

When Horatio picked Jessica up from the spa, she jumped up in to his arms and kissed him deeply.

"That was just amazing!" She grinned, "I've never gotten such a wonderful massage before."

"I'm glad you liked it." Horatio smiled, "Now we have four hours to ourselves."

"I know exactly how to spend those hours. Just take me home and I'll show you." Jessica winked.

Horatio had never driven home quicker before. After two hours spend in the bedroom, Jessica and Horatio watched some TV and just enjoyed feeling lazy.

"So where's the dinner?" Jessica asked.

"At Alesio's."

"Oh, he's cooks such amazing food." Jessica moaned, "I hope we get a good table. You know, by the ocean."

"I asked him to give that table to us." Horatio smiled.

"Where is Kyle?"

"Oh, just out somewhere." Horatio shrugged.

The truth was that Kyle was with everybody else who were going to hide in Alesio's kitchen. They were at Alexx's place. Everybody had charged batteries in their cameras and were ready to snap pictures. They knew that after the big moment there would be a party to celebrate and of course nobody could miss such an opportunity to take pictures. Sophia enjoyed spending time with her brother, grandparents, uncles and aunts as well as her adopted cousins. Especially Alexx's daughter, who adored Sophia.

"Less than two hours left!" Ryan smiled.

"They are going to eat a little before he asks her." Eric reminded, "But she's going to know something is very strange when it's only them at the restaurant."

"Poor Horatio must be so nervous right now." Calleigh said.

"I've never seen him nervous. I think." Walter smirked.

"It's a rare sight." Jesse chuckled.

**-I-**

"Should I dress up in something fancy?" Jessica asked.

Horatio had told her that in thirty minutes they had to be at Alesio's, which meant they had to leave in fifteen minutes. Jessica was now trying to find the perfect outfit for the evening.

"Something sexy underneath maybe?" Horatio winked.

"Oh, you have plans for tonight huh?"

"I was thinking of a re-run of our two hours at lunch." Horatio smiled.

"Something sexy it is then. What do I look sexy in?"

"Everything and nothing." Horatio said, "You can go naked if dare to and you can also wear anything you want."

"Horatio Caine!" Jessica gasped.

Horatio chuckled as he put on a suit. A more expensive and better suit than the ones he wore to work. When it seemed as if Jessica couldn't decide Horatio picked out the same light green dress she had worn on their first date.

"Brings back memories." Horatio smiled.

"I wore this on our first date. Thanks to Henry." Jessica grinned, "I asked him if dark red or light green was better. He said light green."

"I like dark red too, but god, you look so beautiful in this." Horatio smiled and gave her a kiss.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself Mister." Jessica chuckled.

Once she was dressed and ready to go, they went out to the car and drove towards the restaurant.

In the restaurant, people were running around like madmen because they knew that they were late on hiding. Horatio and Jessica would arrive in less than ten minutes.

"Okay, people quickly now! In the kitchen and stay quiet." Jesse said.

Everyone but Alesio was hiding. His wife was starting to make a Horatio and Jessica's favourite; Fettuccini Alfredo. Alesio would act as waiter and cook for the evening.

"Where did you park the hummer Walter?" Jesse asked, once everyone were in the kitchen.

Sophia was luckily asleep and hopefully she wouldn't wake up for a while.

"Just outside." Walter said.

Everyone looked at him and Walter sighed as he realized his mistake.

"Maybe Jessica won't see it." He said.

"Why did you use the hummer to drive here anyway?" Calleigh asked.

"I had worked some extra time in the lab and I needed a car." Walter shrugged.

"Please tell me the rest of you parked further down the street?" Frank asked.

"Yes." Was the reply.

A few minutes later, everyone went quiet as they heard the door open and Alesio greeting Horatio and Jessica.

"Um, Alesio… the restaurant is empty." Jessica said.

"Yes, Horatio booked it that way. My wife and I are making dinner. This is a special evening after all." Alesio smiled at her and winked at Horatio.

"I guess it is." Jessica grinned, "There's a hummer outside."

Horatio turned around and almost cursed out loud. He turned around to face Jessica again and smiled.

"Probably just one of my CSIs eating in the restaurant next door." Horatio smiled.

"Yeah, probably." Jessica smiled.

Jessica and Horatio sat down and Jessica frowned when they weren't given any menus. Alesio explained that Horatio had already decided their dinner.

"Our favourite!" Jessica smiled widely when she heard what they would be eating.

"Of course." Horatio said.

While they waited for their food for a few minutes, Jessica and Horatio talked about their day. Jessica told Horatio how much she appreciated that he had sent her to a spa.

"Well, everyone needs a little massage every now and then." Horatio grinned.

"Here we go." Alesio smiled as he arrived with the food, "Enjoy your meal and if you need anything at all just holler. I'll be in the kitchen."

With that said Alesio walked away and joined everybody else in the kitchen.

"God, he is so nervous." Alesio whispered.

"Who wouldn't be?" Eric chuckled low, "Ouch, who stepped on my toes?"

"Ops, sorry." Walter said.

"You have way too big feet." Eric said.

"Almost as big as bigfoot." Ryan teased.

"Well, you have the same size as a woman." Walter said.

"Boys, behave or I'll smack you with a frying pan." Alexx warned.

The boys went quiet and everyone listened as Horatio and Jessica talked.

"So how did you get Alesio to open the restaurant only for us?" Jessica asked.

"I asked him as a friend." Horatio shrugged.

"There is nothing else to it?"

"Nope. Just a simple favor for a friend." Horatio smiled.

Jessica smiled and nodded.

"So um, what made you suddenly think of all of this?" Jessica asked.

"You really think I didn't do this so show you how much I love you?" Horatio chuckled.

"I know you did. But, I also know when you're hiding something." Jessica smirked.

"Well, I wanted to show you that I love you very much. And that when I wake up every morning and see your face, I know that I am the luckiest man on earth." Horatio said and in the meantime took out the ring from his pocket.

"Aw, Horatio." Jessica smiled.

"You make me happy and I feel so lucky to have met you. Sure, we crashed our cars to find each other. But I would crash the car over and over again just to be with you." Horatio smiled and stood up. When he went down on one knee Jessica gasped.

"Jessica, you are the love of my life and even though we talked about waiting until Sophia got older, I know that I can't wait." Horatio smiled, "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Jessica put her hand over her mouth and stared at Horatio. Tears rolled down her face and she threw herself in to his arms. They hugged each other hard and Jessica shrieked of joy.

"Of course I'll marry you!" She exclaimed and when she did, their friends and family cheered and came out from their hiding place.

Jessica gasped as she realized that they had been listening and she hugged Horatio even harder.

"I'm getting married!" Jessica shrieked and then hugged her parents.

Horatio put the ring on her finger and then they shared their first kiss as engaged!

_**Please review!**_


	32. Chapter 32

Jessica had brought Sophia, now 4 months old, along when it was time for the bride and her bridesmaids to find a dress. Horatio and his best men were doing the same thing across town, well, only the boys were looking for tuxedos.

Jessica had chosen Calleigh to be the one with the ring and Natalia and Alexx would be the other bridesmaids. Jessica had other friends outside of the team, but none that were that close and that she considered family. Horatio had chosen Kyle to take care of the ring and Frank and Henry as his other best men. Sophia was asleep as Jessica started looking at the different dresses.

"Should I wear something big and classic or something tight that will make it impossible for Horatio to think anything but dirty thoughts?" Jessica grinned.

"Honey, I don't think it matters what you wear, all Horatio will be able to think about anyway is how long it will take for him to get it off you." Alexx laughed.

"Oh my God, I think I just found the perfect one for you!" Calleigh gasped and picked out a beautiful white dress.

It was strapless and tight around the chest, a tiara came along with it.

"Wow! It's amazing!" Jessica grinned and touched the dress, "I can't imagine not wearing it not that I've seen it. Thank you Cal!"

"Anything for you. You will look stunning in this. Horatio will have to fight the other male guests away from you."

"I can just picture you in it." Natalia smiled and Alexx nodded in agreement.

Jessica grabbed the dress and went to change. Alexx, Calleigh and Natalia looked for something they could wear in the meantime.

"Hey, Jessica, do you want us to wear a specific colour?" Alexx asked.

"Um, Horatio and I talked about light green since it was the color of my dress on our first date and when he proposed. But, I also like light blue." Jessica said.

"There are some beautiful dresses here." Natalia smiled.

Alexx and Calleigh agreed when they saw the simple light blue dress with a white band under the bosom.

"These are just… wow." Calleigh smiled, "I love them. But it's up to the bride."

"The bride will soon decide. Okay, I'm dressed now." Jessica said and came out from the changing room.

Everyone gasped and Jessica grinned when she looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit she looked absolutely amazing.

"Oh my god! Horatio won't be able to keep his eyes off you. I can't even do it myself." Natalia grinned, "You glow!"

"Aw, thanks!" Jessica giggled, "I can't believe it. This is my dress. This is it. I know it's several weeks left before we get married. But I believe that thanks to Cal that I've got my dress."

"We agree honey." Alexx chuckled.

"I'm buying this." Jessica smiled, "Now let me see the dress you found."

Natalia showed her the light blue dress and Jessica smiled widely.

"It's perfect! You three have to wear it." She said.

"Great!" Natalia smiled.

"Do you think the guys have finished this quick?" Calleigh asked.

"Not a chance." Alexx chuckled.

**-I-**

The truth was that the boys were not that far from finished. When it came to tuxedos, Horatio wanted a classical black and white, so there was not much to choose from. However, he still looked at several different tuxedos and didn't seem to be able to make up his mind. Kyle however, had found the perfect tuxedo for the best men. He was admiring himself in front of a mirror.

"The ladies will go crazy when they see me in this." He grinned.

"Oh yes, because you are such a ladies' man." Frank said and rolled his eyes.

"I will be in this." Kyle smiled.

"H, this is great." Henry smiled, "It has a white vest to it, which I think is better than a black vest, especially to a wedding."

Horatio nodded and decided to try it on. Frank and Henry tried on the same kind of tuxedo that Kyle was wearing. They also admired themselves in the mirror.

"Hey, we do look good in these. I think Kyle is right, the ladies will go crazy when they see us." Henry smirked.

"They will go even crazier when they see dad." Kyle smiled and nodded towards his father, who had changed quicker than expected.

The men turned around and had to admit that Horatio looked really good in his tuxedo. He would definitely turn heads.

"Jessica will want to take you to the bedroom the minute she sees you in that." Frank chuckled.

"I like it." Horatio smiled, "It's perfect!"

"Do you think the girls have finished this quickly?" Kyle asked.

"Not a chance." Frank said and the other men nodded in agreement.

"What is your and Jessica's song?" Henry asked.

"Um, we don't really have one." Horatio said and blushed.

He and Jessica had yet to discuss what song they would chose as theirs and dance their wedding dance to.

"How about _Love is all around_?" Kyle asked.

"Boring." Henry sighed.

"Hey, it's their song not yours." Kyle said.

"Actually a song that we sometimes listen to is _L.O.V.E._ by Frank Sinatra." Horatio smiled, "I think we'll dance to that one."

"It fits perfect for a wedding too." Kyle smiled.

"Yeah, if it was me fixing the music it would all be rock n' roll." Henry said.

"Which is exactly why the girls are fixing the music, they know romance and love and all that it means." Horatio said, "Let's buy the clothes and get out of here. We'll have to wait for the girls to finish for hours anyway."

The boys couldn't be more wrong of course. When they had bought their tuxedos, they went home. Kyle and Horatio talked about the wedding cake on their way home. Both thought a big cake would be perfect.

"With a red headed man and a blonde woman on top." Kyle grinned.

Horatio chuckled and pulled up on the driveway. Both men were surprised to see Jessica and Sophia getting out of the car at the same time that they pulled up.

"You boys finished early." Jessica grinned.

"We could say the same about you girls." Kyle said, "We thought you all were far from finished."

"Funny, we thought the same about you." Jessica said and gave Horatio a kiss, "Our little girl slept through the entire thing."

Horatio smiled and looked down at the still sleeping Sophia. The family of four went inside to make lunch and after lunch Sophia woke up and demanded food too. It wasn't until after dinner than Jessica and Horatio had some time to sit and talk more about their wedding.

"I was thinking our special song could be _L.O.V.E._ by Frank Sinatra." Horatio smiled.

"Absolutely!" Jessica grinned, "We have to practice dancing too."

"I can already dance."

"Really? Well, why don't you show it then." Jessica teased.

Horatio pulled her up to her feet and started dancing while humming slightly. Jessica smiled and found it easy to dance with her husband-to-be.

"I told you I could dance." Horatio smirked.

"I can see that." Jessica chuckled, "What about the cake?"

"Big is all I want."

"Me too."

"And _where_ should we actually get married?" Horatio asked.

"We've planned the cake and our song, but not the location. Are we smart or what?" Jessica chuckled, "How about here?"

"On the beach?"

"Around two?"

"Perfect." Horatio smiled and gave Jessica a kiss.

**AN: Is it more common for the groom and the best men to wear the same kind of tuxedo? **

**By the way, I tried to post the links to the different dressed in the chapter, but it didn't work. If anyone wants, you can find the links on my profile instead.**

_**Please review!**_


	33. Chapter 33

Kyle had brought home a girl for dinner. Claiming she was just a friend. But the looks passed between the couple said otherwise. Jessica and Horatio weren't sure how long the relationship would last. Kyle's former relationships had lasted a few months, but he had himself said that he was not looking for anything too serious at the moment.

Horatio and 5 months old Sophia were on the couch, playing. Horatio kissed her nose and made a loud kiss-noise which made Sophia laughed out loud. Jessica was in the arm-chair thinking and just watching father and daughter play.

Horatio tickled Sophia at the waist and Sophia squealed of joy.

"Maybe you should have a sex-talk with Kyle."

Horatio laughed so hard he got tears in his eyes, he was sure Jessica was just joking.

"Very funny." Horatio said once he had calmed down.

"I'm serious."

Horatio looked at her for a long time.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"Why would I? You don't think we'll have to talk about sex with Sophia once she gets older?" Jessica asked.

"Kyle is twenty. I think he already knows all that he needs to know about sex." Horatio said.

Although Jessica seemed serious about the sex-talk, she wasn't. Of course she knew that Kyle already knew all he needed to know. Or at least she hoped so. But the look Horatio had given her was priceless.

"But you can't be sure." Jessica said.

She would have paid money to see Kyle's face when his father wanted to have a sex-talk. Although she was sure she wouldn't be able to convince Horatio to have that talk.

"Jessica… please just drop it. He and I don't need to talk about it." Horatio begged.

"You're blushing. You think it's embarrassing talking about sex with your own son?" Jessica smirked.

"Yes! I mean, I've never done it before and I can only imagine how embarrassed he will be if I talk to him about it." Horatio said, "Kyle doesn't need it."

"How can you know?" Jessica asked.

Horatio blushed more and more every time Jessica continued talking about the subject. She wished she would have thought about video-taping it.

"Jessica, please." Horatio begged, "He already knows."

Jessica chuckled and gave up. As she continued laughing, Horatio realized she had been joking all along.

"Oh, you are so evil!" He laughed.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Jessica grinned, "I wish I had a photo of it."

Horatio shook his head and chuckled. Sophia grabbed her father's finger and brought it to her mouth. After all, now that she almost had one tooth she had to check if it was good for anything.

"Ouch!" Horatio exclaimed and pulled his hand away from Sophia, "Hey! Not biting."

Jessica laughed so hard that she fell down on the floor. Tears fell from her eyes. Horatio chuckled and then caressed Sophia's cheek.

"No biting Sophia. I didn't even know you had teeth." Horatio said and opened her mouth, "You have one very small one. I think it's still growing though."

Jessica calmed down and sat down on the couch, next to Horatio.

"Well, she's been teething for a while so we knew they would come, although she is very early. Like I was. I was five and a half months old when I had my first tooth." She smiled, "Good girl, biting daddy. Show him who the boss is."

Sophia grinned widely.

"I'm the boss." Horatio said.

"Only at work honey." Jessica smirked, "Don't you know that every man who is a boss at work, is the subordinate at home?"

"I think the Chief mentioned it once or twice." Horatio smiled, "Next time bite mommy." Horatio said to his daughter.

Jessica snorted. Sophia just looked from her father to her mother. Maybe she should see if mommy was bite-able too.

Kyle and his girl, Hannah, didn't show themselves for the rest of the night. They had probably fallen asleep in Kyle's bed. Or Hannah had snuck out the window. Both Horatio and Jessica liked Hannah, but they had liked all the girls that Kyle had brought home.

It was now late at night and Horatio and Jessica had just gone to bed.

"How's the finger?" Jessica asked.

"Fine. Sophia doesn't bite very hard."

"Hard enough for you to scream." Jessica teased.

"I didn't scream."

"A little bit."

"It was just a reaction from the shock of actually being bitten." Horatio said, "I've been bitten by a 10-year-old and that hurts much more."

"Really?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, when I first moved here Frank's daughter was ten and one day when I had been over at his and his wife, now ex-wife's, home for dinner, his daughter got angry when I was going home. She bit me."

Jessica chuckled, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's funny if you think about it." Horatio grinned, "Anyway, she regretted it after and everything was forgotten. But imagine my surprise when she bit me in the hand."

"Poor Lt. Caine." Jessica smiled and caressed his cheek.

Horatio chuckled and gave Jessica a kiss.

"Our little one is awake." Horatio grinned as both he and Jessica heard Sophia's cries.

"I'll get her." Jessica smiled, "She might be hungry."

"Okay. I love you." Horatio smiled as Jessica got out of bed.

"I love you too." Jessica grinned and left the bedroom.

Horatio listened and smiled as he heard Jessica's cheerful voice as she picked up their daughter.

"Hey! Don't bite mommy!" Jessica exclaimed.

Horatio shook with laughter and pressed his face against his pillow to prevent himself from laughing out loud. Apparently, mommy was bite-able too.

**AN: Probably the shortest chapter that I have written so far in this story. But it'll have to do, lol. **_**Please review!**_


	34. Chapter 34

The wedding was about a month away and Jessica had sent all the invitations to friends and family. It wouldn't be a very big wedding. The team would be there as well as several lab techs and some people from the homicide department. They had been family to Horatio for a long time and of course they were now also Jessica's family. Jessica's parents and brother would of course attend, Horatio's friend Artie and Kyle would be there and some quite close colleagues to Jessica. In the end, approximately 30 people would be their guests.

Now Jessica just wanted to find the perfect cake. She had brought five and a half months old Sophia with her to a shop where they made all sorts of cakes. They had photos of several of them and Jessica was looking at those photos.

"Getting married?" A male voice said from behind her.

Jessica turned around and faced a familiar man.

"James!" Jessica exclaimed and stood up, "What are you doing here?"

The two childhood friends hugged. James had been with Jessica through her bad break-ups with her ex-boyfriends, he had been a part of her life from the day she started school to four years ago when he had moved to San Francisco and they had drifted apart.

"I moved down to Miami." James smiled.

"Really? What made you decide to come back?"

"I wanted a new place to work at. I got one at Miami University."

James was a geography teacher and very good at his job. He was liked by everyone who met him and therefore it was strange that his only real friend was Jessica. It would later turn out not to be so strange after all.

"Good for you!" Jessica smiled.

James looked down at Sophia and his smile grew wider.

"The father is a red head right?" He asked.

"Yeah." Jessica smiled.

Sophia had her father's hair alright. James sat down across from Jessica and Jessica offered him to hold Sophia.

"What's her name?" He asked.

"Sophia. She is five and a half months old."

"Wow, you have a child and soon a husband." James grinned.

Jessica nodded. Since they hadn't seen each other for four years, Jessica and James decided to have lunch and catch up.

"So what does your guy do?" James asked as they sat at a small café.

Jessica noticed the slight change in James's tone. How he seemed annoyed, but she was sure he was just concerned of her well-being, like he had always been.

"He's a Lt. in the crime lab." Jessica smiled proudly.

"Is he a good father?" James asked and stunned Jessica.

"Yeah, absolutely. He's a great father. He has a son from a former relationship and they are really close."

"He already has a kid?"

"James, it is in fact one of the things I love so much about him. That he is a father tells me that he cares. His son is very fortunate to have a father like Horatio."

"That's his name? Unusual." James smiled, trying to convince Jessica that he wasn't being evil.

"Yes. It fits him." Jessica smiled.

James nodded. When Sophia started crying and begging for attention Jessica lost focus on James and didn't see how he rolled his eyes at the baby. Jessica picked her up and Sophia calmed down. James loved kids, but not somebody else's kid. He was jealous of Jessica's happiness. He wanted to be the one to share that with her.

"Is he a good boyfriend?" James asked.

"I think it's hard to find someone better than him." Jessica smiled, "James, you don't have to worry about me."

"I know, but it doesn't hurt to just make sure for myself that he's a good man." James said.

Jessica gave him a smile. She was blinded by their long friendship and didn't see the real anger that James directed towards Horatio. The jealousy and the hatred towards the man that had what James himself had wanted for years.

"How about you? Any girl in your life?" Jessica asked.

"Not yet. Maybe one day." James said, of course he left out that Jessica was the only woman in his life.

"I'm sure many women would love to date you." Jessica grinned.

James gave her a small smile. Everyone but Jessica according to him. Why he couldn't get her was something he didn't understand. However, he wasn't going to stop trying. He _needed_ Jessica.

"I hope to meet the right girl one day." James said.

After lunch, the two parted ways and Jessica went back to the cake-shop. She decided to order a big cake with a red headed groom and a blonde bride on top for the wedding day. When she was done, she went home and played with her daughter in the baby pool, that the family had in the backyard.

It was when Kyle got home, that Jessica realized something was wrong with James. Kyle didn't even say hi when he walked through the front door and found Jessica and Sophia in the kitchen, making dinner.

"There's a man on the driveway." Kyle said and looked worried.

Jessica frowned and peeked out the kitchen window. She was shocked to see James standing by his car on the driveway.

"It's a childhood friend. I haven't seen him in four years, but… we had lunch today." Jessica explained and went to open the front door.

She went out to James, while Kyle watched Sophia.

"James?" Jessica asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see where you live." James smiled, "Is in inappropriate?"

"A little. We had lunch today, I don't think you need to see me this much in one day." Jessica said.

James hung his head and sighed heavily.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see your family. To make sure Horatio, or whatever, is treating your right."

"James, I told you. He's not a bad man." Jessica said.

She was beginning to sense that something was very wrong. James had always been protective of her and he had wanted to make sure that her former boyfriends had been nice to her too, but this was beginning to spiral out of control.

"Does he often come home late?" James asked.

"It's not late."

"I think it is. Maybe I should call him and…"

"James!" Jessica snapped, "I am happy with him. You don't need to check if he's a good man. I know he is. You need to trust my judgment."

"Is that kid his son?"

"James. Leave now." Jessica sighed.

"What?"

"Leave! You're acting like a child." Jessica said and walked back to the house.

James got inside his car and drove off. Jessica explained to Kyle what James had said and Kyle got a bad feeling about James.

"I don't think this is his last visit." Kyle said.

"Let's hope it is." Jessica sighed.

Little did Jessica know that James had other plans than to stay away.

_**Please review!**_


	35. Chapter 35

Jessica almost choked on her coffee when she saw the last person she wanted to see on the driveway again; James. He hadn't bothered her for a week and now he was suddenly back. Horatio had been worried at first when Jessica had told him about James. They had both decided to wait and see if James understood what he had done wrong before doing anything about it.

Jessica had been so sure that James had left her alone. She had been wrong apparently. James noticed Jessica in the kitchen and waved to her. Jessica didn't wave back. Instead she went back to the bedroom and changed from her pajamas to casual clothes. Sophia woke up slightly after that, so Jessica had no time to see if James was gone. After she had fed Sophia and changed her diaper, she put on her clothes. It was when Jessica passed the hallway with Sophia in her arms, that she saw a shadow on the other side of the front door. Shortly after that the doorbell rang.

"Shit." Jessica cursed and bit her lower lip.

She wasn't sure if she should open the door or not. James had never been violent with her, but he obviously wasn't like he once used to be. Jessica decided not to open the door, instead she stood on the other side of it and asked who it was.

"It's James."

"What do you want?"

"Can't a friend visit every now and then?" James asked.

Jessica had a bad feeling about it. James _could_ have come to apologize, but he could also have come to do something much worse.

"James, um… I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Jessica sighed.

"Please, Jessica." James begged.

"James, please go."

"Why? Has your boyfriend banned you from seeing me?" James asked accusingly.

"You created this situation yourself!"

"I am only concerned about you."

"I'm fine! I've told you that already." Jessica sighed.

"Let me in, Jessica."

"No. Go away!" Jessica snapped.

She sighed in relief when James did go and she heard him drive away a few seconds later. Jessica looked down at Sophia and smiled.

"I have to call daddy now." She smiled, although she wasn't happy at all.

Horatio reacted just like Jessica had expected him to. He got angry and wanted to come home. Jessica managed to convince him to give her police protection instead. Horatio agreed. James had so far not done anything that was a threat to Jessica's safety. Horatio did promise to come home earlier than usual even if James stayed away the rest of the day or even for weeks.

"_Sweetheart, if James shows up again you have to call me right away_." Horatio said.

"Absolutely." Jessica said, "I don't think he wants to harm me. I'm actually more concerned about you."

"_Well, I'm not taking any chances_." Horatio sighed, "_Are you sure you don't need me to come home?_"

"Yeah. Last time I told him to leave he stayed away for a week. Maybe he'll give up in a few days."

"_Alright. Two officers are on their way to you now._" Horatio said, "_I love you_."

"Love you too." Jessica smiled and hung up.

Unfortunately, Jessica and Horatio had no idea that James was far from finished with is attempt to get Jessica.

Jessica and Sophia played out in the baby-pool for a while, until the two officers that were supposed to be watching her rang the doorbell.

"Hi, Ms. Stanley, we are officers De La Vega and Peters." A tall man smiled and shook hands with her.

"Hi, thanks for doing this."

"No problem ma'm. " Officer Peters smiled.

The officers nodded their goodbye and went back to their car. Jessica noticed that Sophia was tired and put her in her crib. She sat there for a while, just watching Sophia sleep. Jessica felt safer with the officers outside, but she would soon learn that some people managed to slip through protection anyway.

While Sophia slept, Jessica made some lunch for herself and then sat out in the sun on the back porch. She wasn't aware that somebody was watching her. Jessica managed to relax while she enjoyed the sun. She pushed her thoughts of James out of her head and just thought about Horatio and Sophia. It was when Sophia woke up after two hours that Jessica went inside and the man who would soon become the most hunted man in Miami, sneaked inside. Jessica went to the nursery and picked her daughter up, Sophia stopped crying, but still wasn't happy.

"Aw, you need a new diaper." Jessica chuckled when she felt the smell, "No wonder you decided to call for mommy."

With a new diaper, Sophia was much happier and could go back to sleep again. In only one hour Kyle would come home and then two hours after that, Horatio would follow. Well, usually. Now that he had promised to come home early, Jessica wasn't sure what time he would be there. She felt like she needed to cool down after two hours in the sun, so she decided to take a quick shower. Once she exited the shower only five minutes later, she frowned as Sophia cried again.

"Baby girl, what's the matter with you today? A little cranky maybe?" Jessica smiled as she opened the door to the nursery and froze immidiately.

"James?" Jessica gasped, "How did you get in here?"

"I snuck in. I went to your backyard before the cops arrived. If I walk along the beach, they can't see me." James said.

He was holding Sophia, who was now loudly protesting. Jessica moved towards them and James backed away.

"James, give her to me."

"She is so innocent. Just like you." James said, "You think I'm crazy but I'm not. I know you will be heartbroken again. Horatio is like all other guys you've dated. I won't let it happen again."

"You haven't met him James. If you had you would know that he is an amazing man." Jessica said with tears falling from her eyes.

She feared for Sophia's life. She would sacrifice herself for her daughter without a doubt if necessary.

"You can't see straight. You're blinded by love." James said, "You think this baby is a sign of love from him?"

"We made her together."

"He only wanted one thing from you! Your body to fulfill his own needs. He doesn't want your soul."

"Give me back my daughter!" Jessica snapped.

James softened at the sight of Jessica's tears and he nodded. He gave Sophia back to Jessica and Jessica put her back in the crib. Sophia calmed down, but was too shock up to go back to sleep.

"Get out now!" Jessica growled.

James nodded and moved past her. Jessica sobbed and thought it was now over and then everything went black.

_**Please review!**_


	36. Chapter 36

"Your car was seen one block away from Lt. Caine's house." Frank growled, "It was there for several hours and just around the time that Jessica Stanley went missing; your car drove away from there."

"So? That doesn't mean anything." James smirked.

"The neighbor may not have seen you drag Jessica to the car, but thank God she kept an eye on when you arrived and when you left. We have your license plate on a photograph she took." Frank said, "Where is Jessica?"

"I don't know."

"Bullshit! You used chloroform to sedate her! We found the cloth you used in the nursery. Did you think anything about leaving a baby girl by herself when you took Jessica?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" James growled, "Now, if there is nothing further. I would like to go home."

With that said James stood up. Frank sighed heavily. Jessica had been missing for three hours. Kyle had come home just minutes after James had kidnapped her. He had called Horatio and then the investigation had started. James only had a three minute walk from his car to Jessica and Horatio's house. They _knew_ he had kidnapped her, but they didn't have enough evidence to prove it.

As James left, Horatio followed him. He had been listening to the interrogation and he was furious. James seemed to think he had outsmarted everyone on the team. That he had outsmarted Horatio, well, then he didn't know just how good the team really was. Kyle, Jessica's parents and brother were at a hotel, taking care for Sophia, while Horatio tried to find Jessica. The team was working hard on finding out where she was as well. Jesse and Alexx happened to see Horatio follow James and worried that Horatio would lose his iron control.

"Hey James!" Horatio called and James turned around.

Horatio grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall.

"Take it easy Lt. I might have to report your for police brutality otherwise." James smirked.

"Wipe that smirk off your face before I knock your teeth you!" Horatio growled low, "Where is Jessica? I know you took her and you better hope that I find her unharmed you will wish that you had never been born."

"Is that a threat?"

"No that's a promise you…"

"Horatio!" Alexx said and forced Horatio to let go off James.

James smirked and walked away. Horatio ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily.

"I can't let him just walk away Alexx. I know he has her!" Horatio said frustrated.

"You don't have enough evidence, Horatio. I know that is hard to deal with." Alexx said, "But if you attack him you're giving Stetler a good reason to suspend you and then you won't be able to help Jessica."

Horatio sighed and nodded. Alexx was right. Jesse joined them and patted Horatio on the shoulder.

"I've sent a picture of James to a news station and they will ask the viewers to call us if they have any information about him." Jesse said, "He won't hurt her."

"You can't be sure of that." Horatio sighed.

"He loves her right? I think he wants to leave Miami with her, but he can't because he knows we got an eye on him." Jesse said, "I've looked in to James's background. He never has any close friends and he is an outsider at work. His former boss told me that James carried around a picture of Jessica all the time. He always talks about Jessica and nothing else."

"He is obsessed with her." Alexx said.

"Exactly."

"Ask his colleagues at Miami University if he is the same there." Horatio said, "Jessica said he worked there."

Jesse frowned, "I did a full background check on him. He's been unemployed for two months."

"He lied to her." Horatio growled and shook his head, "He came down here to be with her and instead he found out that she's getting married and has a baby with another man."

"He's mentally unstable." Alexx said, "A man that is so obsessed about someone that James is has mental issues."

"I can't argue with you on that." Jesse said.

"I just hope he is stable enough to not hurt her." Horatio sighed.

**-I-**

Jessica opened her eyes and looked around the room she was in. Somehow she hadn't expected to wake up in a room with white walls and with machines around her. She lifted her head up and saw that she was in a hospital. Then she noticed Horatio sleeping next to her in a chair. Jessica reached out and gently touched his face. Horatio stirred and woke up.

"Jessica! Sweetheart, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Horatio asked as he kissed her softly.

"I'm fine. What happened? Why am I here?" Jessica asked.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Horatio asked.

"Me and James were in Sophia's nursery. He was holding her… when he gave her back to me I told him to leave." Jessica said, "Is Sophia okay?"

"Yeah. She's with Kyle, your parents and your brother."

"What happened?"

"James knocked you out with chloroform sweetheart. He kidnapped you for six hours. We found you two hours ago." Horatio said, "You don't remember that?"

Jessica shook her head. Horatio nodded and told her how they had found her.

_**Flashback**_

_Thanks to the news showing a picture of James, the team had got some good tips on where he was. One tip in particular could prove to be the big break in the case. Ryan and Jesse were looking in to it. A landlord had called and said that a man that looked like James was renting an apartment from him, but under the name Miles Warner. Ryan and Jesse couldn't find any Miles Warner in Miami and no one that was the same age as James._

"_H, I think we got him." Jesse said as Horatio joined the two men in the lab, "James's rented an apartment only five blocks from your house."_

"_Good work gentlemen, call the landlord and ask him if James's car is outside." Horatio said as he rounded the team up for the rescue operation of Jessica and the takedown of James. _

_Cops drove all across town to the address where James lived. The landlord confirmed that James's car was outside the apartment. _

"_Alright, SWAT will move in first." Horatio said._

_He prayed that Jessica was inside and that she was safe.__  
"According to the landlord, James hasn't been outside the apartment since he left the lab three hours ago."_

_Horatio nodded and then watched as SWAT burst through the doors. _

"_Everything is clear. Get an ambulance in here!" The SWAT leader called._

_Horatio and the team ran inside and saw Jessica lying on the couch, unharmed. James was on the floor below the couch, stabbed to death. The knife was in Jessica's hands. Things did not look good._

_**End of flashback**_

"I killed him?" Jessica asked.

"No, you didn't."

"I didn't?"

Horatio sighed, "I can't prove it right now. But honey, I know you didn't do it. And even if you did it was self defense."

The door opened and Rick Stetler entered the room.

"Ms. Stanley, your doctor informs me that you are well enough to go through an interrogation." Rick said.

"Rick, she's been missing all day. Leave her alone!" Horatio growled and stood up.

Rick and Horatio glared at each other and the tension in the room was thick. Jessica's father Clark entered the room and pushed the two men further away from each other.

"As much as I hate the fact that IAB is questioning your team and my daughter, I think it's best to let this man do his job." Clark said, "And you can do yours Horatio, process the evidence. Prove that Jessica did not kill him."

Horatio nodded and turned back to Jessica.

"I want you to leave the room Horatio." Rick said.

Horatio was about to say something when Jessica put her finger over his lips.

"It's okay. I can manage this. Do as dad said." Jessica said and gave Horatio a kiss.

Reluctantly Horatio left Rick and Jessica alone and went to the lab. Clark waited outside the room. In Jessica's room; Rick took out his notepad and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"Ms. Stanley, tell me what you remember." Rick said.

Jessica told him just as much as she had told Horatio about her day. Rick wrote it down and nodded every now and then.

"The lab has the knife that you used to kill James with." Rick said.

"I didn't kill him."

"The problem is that you have no memory of anything that happened during those six hours that you were in James's apartment." Rick said, "You _may_ have killed him in self defense and in that case it has to be _proved_ that it was self defense."

Jessica sighed and shook her head.

"You should also know that the team will be processing the evidence under my supervision." Rick said, "So that they don't do anything wrong."

"They could never do anything wrong!" Jessica snapped.

Rick chose to ignore that comment, "You had police protection outside the house, when James held your daughter, why didn't you call for help?"  
"It wasn't the first thing on my mind! I've never known James as a violent guy. I knew I could get him to give me Sophia."

"Why wasn't Horatio with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, his girlfriend is being stalked by a maniac and he is not at home with you. Do you think he has something to do with this?" Rick asked.

"That's absurd!"

"Trust me, plenty of men want their girlfriends dead." Rick said.

"He wasn't home because I asked him not to come home. I didn't think James would be back until next week."

"Why?"

"Because he had left me alone for a week after the first time he screwed up." Jessica sighed, "Horatio has nothing to do with this."

"Okay." Rick said, "I think I have everything I need for now. Goodbye Ms. Stanley."

"Goodbye."

**-I-**

Ryan and Calleigh were processing the crime scene and so far it looked like Jessica _could_ have stabbed James. He had been lying right below the couch where she had been, the murder weapon had been in her hands and of course it had her fingerprints on it.

"I can't believe this. Jessica couldn't have done this." Ryan sighed.

"She could have. In self defense. Self defense is not a crime and I would have done the exact same thing." Calleigh said, "However, I don't think she would have been knocked out after it."

Ryan looked under the couch and saw three cloths of chloroform.

"I think I know why Jessica doesn't remember anything." He said and showed Calleigh the cloths, "James drugged her all the time. She was never awake."

Calleigh smirked, "Good work Ryan. Look what I found."

Calleigh was standing at the kitchen door and had found some strange markings.

"Something was stuck here." Ryan said.

"Exactly. Like the knife maybe. Take a mold of the markings and see if you can match it to the marking on the knife handle." Calleigh said, "Hopefully this will explain everything."

In the lab, Walter was processing the knife. He had found Jessica's fingerprints on it, but also James's. James's blood was all over the blade. Rick was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder.

"Stetler I can do my job." Walter sighed, "Why don't you trust us?"

"I do. But my boss doesn't. This is after all conflict of interest on the team's side. You should all be lucky that you're allowed to work with the case." Rick said.

The door opened and Horatio entered the lab, he sighed as he saw Rick.

"Rick, you don't have to stand that close to Walter." He said.

Rick just gave him a look and then chose to ignore Horatio. It didn't take long before Ryan and Calleigh arrived with the mold of the markings and asked Walter to take a mold of the same markings on the knife.

"I think I know where you're going with this." Walter smirked.

When the mold of the markings was done, Calleigh matched them to each other.

"James put the knife between the door and the doorway in the kitchen. He ran in to the knife himself." Calleigh said.

"Wouldn't the door have opened when he ran in to the knife?" Rick asked.

"He could have put something in the way to stop it." Ryan said.

"Did you find anything like that on the scene?" Rick asked.

"Rick." Horatio growled.

"Look, I'm trying to help you. You have to find something like that one the scene or Jessica will still be a suspect. Usually I'm supposed to watch you all like a hawk, but it could just be so that I have to use the bathroom and you sneak away." Rick said and gave Horatio a look.

"You're not going with us to the crime scene?" Ryan asked confused.

"No." Rick said, "I think you can manage without me."

With that said Rick left the lab.

"Wow, if Rick is turning nice then the world must be coming to an end." Walter said.

"Ryan and Calleigh, go back to the crime scene." Horatio said.

**-I-**

It was in the middle of the night and Horatio was sitting in Jessica's hospital bed. The two were cuddling. Jessica was being released the next day. Ryan and Calleigh had been able to prove that James had tied a rope between two door handles to keep the kitchen door from opening as he ran in to the knife four times. He had bled out, but still been able to put the knife in Jessica's hand before he finally died. Making her a suspect of his murder.

"Why do you think James killed himself and made me a suspect if he cared so much about me?" Jessica asked.

"I think he knew we would find you and he would end up in jail. He probably figured that if he couldn't have you then I shouldn't be able to either." Horatio sighed, "Unfortunately for him, he didn't count on the team."

"I guess not." Jessica smiled and gave Horatio a kiss.

The two fell asleep in each other's arms.

The following day when Horatio showed up in the lab to take a few days off; he bumped in to Rick.

"Sorry." Rick said.

"It's okay." Horatio said and the two men started walking away from each other, "Rick?"

Rick turned around to face Horatio.

"Yes?"

"Why did you help us?"

"I wanted to do at least one good thing in my career." Rick shrugged, "I knew Jessica wasn't a murderer, but just like you I have a protocol to follow."

"You've done plenty of good things Rick. I may not like it when you have to investigate my team, but every time you have to put a dirty cop behind bars it's good. It's good for society and for the department. Dirty cops should not be cops."

"Thank you." Rick smiled, "Tell Jessica I'm sorry for my interrogation with her."

"Yeah, she told me about that." Horatio chuckled.

Rick nodded, "Only three weeks left to the wedding. Nervous?"

"Yeah." Horatio smiled.

Rick nodded and the two men parted ways. Maybe Rick was much nicer than people thought.

_**Please review!**_


	37. Chapter 37

Three weeks had passed since Jessica had been kidnapped by James. The first week after the kidnapping had been worst. Jessica had had nightmares and cried through the nights. She dreamt that Sophia and Horatio were slipping off a cliff and James was about to push them, Jessica was running towards them, but never got to them in time before the fell and she saw them hit the rocks beneath. She always woke up crying and Horatio held her until she fell asleep again. Jessica was seeing a therapist and remarkably she was doing much better. Maybe it was because they day she had waited for had finally come.

_Her wedding day. _

Jessica and her bridesmaids Cal, Natalia and Alexx were in the nursery, getting ready for the ceremony. Horatio, Kyle, Frank and Henry were on the second floor in Kyle's room. The wedding ceremony and party were at Jessica and Horatio's beach house. Tomorrow they would take a flight to Greece for their two-week honeymoon. During that time, six and a half months old Sophia would be with her grandparents in Orlando. Jessica and Horatio had been worried about leaving her when she was that young, but everyone they knew who had been parents for many years assured them that it would be fine. Sophia would manage without them.

"I have never been this nervous before." Jessica chuckled.

The dress was on and in less than twenty minutes it was time for her father to walk with her down the aisle. In less than twenty minutes she would marry Horatio. The love of her life.

"I would be surprised if you weren't. You should have seen how nervous I was when I got married." Alexx smiled, "I bet Horatio is just as nervous as you are."

"The boys will have a hard time calming him down." Jessica agreed.

There was a knock on the door and Clark peeked inside. He got tears in his eyes as he saw his daughter in her dress. He had dreamt of this day and now it had finally come. Clark couldn't imagine giving his daughter away to a better man than Horatio Caine.

"How is the soon-to-be-Mrs. Caine?" Clark grinned and hugged Jessica.

"Nervous, but excited too."

"I just saw Horatio, he's pacing in the room and shaking. He's extremely nervous." Clark smiled.

"Aw, maybe I should talk to him?"

"Nonsense, he'll be fine." Clark smiled, "He's nervous about throwing up when you and he stands at the altar."

"What makes him think he would do that?" Calleigh asked.

"Frank told me that Horatio had watched too many video clips of grooms fainting or throwing up when they get married." Natalia said.

"Dad, go talk to him." Jessica smiled.

Clark nodded and gave his daughter one more hug before leaving to talk to Horatio. He smirked as he stood in the doorway to Kyle's room and Horatio was still pacing. Henry and Kyle grabbed his arms and pulled him down on the bed to sit down. Horatio stood up seconds later and looked at his tie in the mirror.

"Does it fit right?" He asked.

"Yes, for the fifth time dad, it's perfect!" Kyle chuckled.

Horatio nodded and took a deep breath.

"Only ten minutes left." Frank smirked and watched as Horatio went pale.

"Shit." He sighed.

"Boys, can I talk to my future son-in-law for a moment?" Clark asked.

The boys nodded and left Clark and Horatio alone. Clark walked up to Horatio and pulled him in for a hug. Horatio was surprised but hugged Clark back. They parted and Clark patted Horatio's shoulder.

"I am happy to witness this day." Clark grinned, "Don't worry, no one can be a better husband to my daughter than you. No one can be happier today than you and Jessica either."

"What if I screw up?" Horatio asked.

"What makes you think you will?"

"It's just a feeling I got."

"Well, I worried about that when I married Irene as well. But you just have to believe in yourself as my father-in-law told me." Clark smiled widely, "The love between you and Jessica is an inspiration for us all. You have nothing to worry about. You won't screw up."

Horatio nodded and smiled.

"I guess it's time for you to go down to the altar now." Clark said as he looked at his watch.

"Yes it is." Horatio smiled.

He and Clark exited the room and they went down to the first floor. Horatio and his best men walked past the room where the ladies were. Clark entered the room to walk with his daughter outside.

"Ready sweetheart?" Clark asked.

"Absolutely!" Jessica grinned.

Horatio took a deep breath as he saw Alexx, Natalia and Calleigh walk down the aisle. Jessica and Clark would soon walk out as well.

"Have you got the ring?" Horatio asked his son.

"I haven't let it out of my sight during the last two weeks." Kyle grinned, "Calm down dad, everything is going to be fine."

Horatio felt his heart skip a beat as he watched Jessica walk down the aisle. He had never seen a more beautiful woman before and he had never felt happier before. Clark gave Jessica away and Jessica stood in front of Horatio. They only had eyes for each other as their priest started talking.

"We are gathered here on this beautiful afternoon to share with Jessica and Horatio as they exchange vows of their everlasting love" Father Julian started.

Jessica and Horatio tried to listen to what he was saying and continued looking in to each other's eyes all the time. When it was time for the vows; Jessica was first.

"Jessica?" Father Julian asked and gently touched Jessica's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Jessica asked, "Oh, right. Sorry."

The guests chuckled as Jessica blushed. She had completely forgot about paying attention to Father Julian.

"I, Jessica, take you Horatio, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you, I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully, through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep." Jessica smiled and put the ring on Horatio's finger.

Father Julian nodded for Horatio and Horatio took the ring from Kyle.

"I, Horatio, take you Jessica, to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you, I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully, through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep." Horatio grinned and slipped the ring on to Jessica's finger.

"I know pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Father Julian smiled.

Horatio pulled Jessica in to his arms and kissed her deeply. Their guests applauded and Kyle patted his father on the back. As Jessica and Horatio walked down the aisle, Walter and Ryan pulled Kyle apart.

"I heard you're giving a toast." Walter smirked.

"Yeah, it's a short but funny little toast." Kyle grinned, "Calleigh also got a funny toast going."

"We're looking forward to it already." Ryan grinned.

Kyle's chance to toast for the bride and groom came at the dinner. In the middle of the dinner, which was on the back porch, Kyle stood up. He was the first one to hold his toast and then Calleigh would do it later.

"Ladies and gentlemen. It takes a strong and intelligent man to realize his dreams and achieve his goals in life and love. A man that is not afraid to live life to its fullest and embrace what is truly important. But enough about me... "Kyle smirked and everybody laughed, "I'm here to talk about Horatio and Jessica. Two people who have come together today to form a union that will surely last forever." Kyle raised his glass and faced Jessica, "Jessica... you look absolutely beautiful. Horatio is lucky to have found such a wonderful woman to share his life with. Horatio is my father and best friend and I'm honored that he chose me to be his best man on this most important day in your lives. I wish you both peace and happiness in your new life together and may God bless your union."

With that said, Kyle sat down and everybody applauded. Horatio and Jessica hugged him and Kyle smiled. Eric was the one with the video camera and of course he had got it all on tape. He also had Horatio on tape before the wedding, when he was pacing like a nervous chicken in Kyle's room. Once Horatio saw the video his face would become as red as his hair, if not more red than his hair.

After the dinner it was time for the bride and the groom to share a dance. They danced to Frank Sinatra's song _L.O.V.E_.

"Are you holding your toast after the dance?" Eric asked Calleigh.

"Yep." Calleigh smirked.

Sophia was of course a part of the whole wedding party. Irene and Kyle were taking care of her while Jessica and Horatio had their dance. During the middle of the dance, Sophia got tired and yawned. Kyle decided to put her in her crib in the nursery. Since everyone celebrated on the back porch, Sophia would be able to get some peace and quiet. Kyle also had a baby monitor with him so he knew when Sophia woke up.

When the dance was over, it was time for some dessert and it was during this that Calleigh stood up to hold her toast.

"Someone once said that in order to make a marriage work, there should be space in your togetherness. To be honest, I hope there is a lot of space in your togetherness because I don't want to miss out my weekly manicure appointment with Jessica." Calleigh smiled and the guests laughed, "Seriously though, in times when you are together in the same room or across town or even the world, remember the love that you feel today and I know you will always be happy in your togetherness. To Jessica and Horatio!"

Calleigh also received hugs from Horatio and Jessica for her toast. The party then continued until almost midnight, when only the bride and groom, Kyle, Henry, Frank, Irene and Clark were left. All of them, including Sophia, were spending the night at Frank's place. Frank had room for everyone and the reason Sophia wouldn't be home was so that the newlyweds could have some alone time. Jessica and Horatio would stop by before their flight the next morning to say goodbye.

After everyone had said goodbye and left, Jessica jumped up in Horatio's arms and kissed him deeply.

"We have the whole house to ourselves Mr. Caine." Jessica grinned.

"I think we can start having fun in the living room then Mrs. Caine." Horatio grinned and kissed Jessica as he carried her towards the living room.

_**Please review!**_

**AN: I didn't write the toasts given by Kyle and Calleigh myself. I had to use the internet, because I am so bad at writing toasts, lol. I also looked up the vow on the net. **


	38. Chapter 38

Kyle was home alone for two weeks while Horatio and Jessica were on their honeymoon in Greece. Sophia was in Orlando with Irene and Clark. One week had gone by without problems, but when Kyle got home one day he found the door kicked in. The one day he had overslept and forgot to turn on the alarm and this happens! His stereo had been stolen, together with the TV in the living room. Kyle called Ryan and Jesse who arrived ten minutes later.

"Do you have to call my father and tell him about this?" Kyle asked.

"You don't want us to?" Ryan asked.

"If he finds out, he and Jessica will come straight home. They should enjoy themselves and not worry about a stolen stereo and TV." Kyle sighed, "Maybe we can fix this before they come home."

"I hope so." Ryan said, "Alright, we won't tell him unless it's still unsolved by the time he and Jessica come back home."

Kyle smiled in appreciation and then watched as Ryan and Jesse processed the crime scene and questioned the neighbors. They found several prints and a neighbor who had seen a car speed off, but never actually seen the break-in.

"It looks like it's going to work out okay Kyle. Your neighbor wrote down the license plate of the car." Jesse said, "And I got several prints. Most of them will probably be from you, H and Jessica, but we might get lucky."

"What about a shoeprint on the door?" Ryan asked.

"No, but I got sweat. Whoever kicked it in was barefoot." Jesse said, "Let's get this to the lab. You want to come along Kyle?"

Kyle shook his head, "I think I better stay here."

Jesse and Ryan nodded and said goodbye. They left for the lab and were very optimistic. They hoped that Kyle would still tell his father and Jessica about the break-in when they got home.

**-I-**

Jessica and Horatio had just enjoyed a lunch at a small café outside their hotel. Calleigh and Natalia had teased Jessica about making sure to see more than just the hotel room. Jessica now had photographic evidence that she and Horatio had been outside the hotel. They were now taking a walk along a beach, holding hands and just taking it easy.

"How long does Kyle have left before he can become a paramedic?" Jessica asked.

"Two years." Horatio smiled, "Usually you can't become a paramedic in Florida if you have a criminal record, but I pulled some strings and they found out he works extra at the morgue."

Jessica chuckled, "Well, he's a good kid and I don't think a criminal record like his should stop him from fulfilling his dreams."

"I agree." Horatio grinned and then gave Jessica a kiss, "We should work on giving Sophia and Kyle another sibling."

"That's just your excuse for taking me back to the hotel room and torture me in bed." Jessica smirked, "We will give them a sibling one day."

"I know, but the best part about giving someone a sibling is the part about _making_ a baby." Horatio smiled and kissed Jessica's neck.

Jessica laughed and grabbed Horatio's hand. The two of them hurried back to their hotel room.

**-I-**

Ryan and Jesse had probably never had any easier case than this one. The two men who had broken in to the Caine-household had used their own car and left fingerprints on the door, as well as a sweaty footprint, not to mention the guys had hid all the stolen things in their own apartment and their fingerprints were all over it.

"So Ernie and Jamie, what made you decide to break-in to that house?" Jesse asked.

"It was just a house. Only the kid lives there and we saw him leave for school." Ernie said.

"This is your fifth break-in, don't count on getting out of jail anytime soon." Ryan said and left the two men alone, while the started bickering about who had got them caught.

Ryan then went home to Kyle to tell him the good news and to restore the stereo and TV.

"You caught them?" Kyle asked.

Ryan nodded and told him everything. Kyle sighed in relief. The two men put everything back where it was supposed to be and then Ryan advised Kyle to call Horatio and let him know about everything.

"Maybe I should wait until he comes back home." Kyle said.

"Kyle, he won't be mad at you. But I think it's wise to just tell him." Ryan smiled and patted the younger man's shoulder.

"Alright. Hey, are we still on for going out clubbing on Saturday?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, we're still on. Walter will come along too." Ryan said as he walked back to his hummer.

"Great, see you!" Kyle smiled and closed the door.

He took a deep breath before he called his father. Like Ryan had said, Horatio didn't get angry. He was more concerned about Kyle's well-being, but he sighed in relief as Kyle told him all about the case. When father and son hung up, Kyle felt much happier.

**-I-**

"So are you sure Kyle is alright?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, he's fine." Horatio smiled, "Don't worry sweetheart, everything is fine. Kyle is fine and the house is fine."

Jessica grinned and gave Horatio a kiss.

"Time is going by so fast, it's soon time for us to go home." Jessica sighed, "I miss Sophia and Kyle, but I really like this place."

"I know, we have to try to get away for ourselves some more times."

"Absolutely mister, now what was that thing you said about the making of a baby is the best part?" Jessica grinned and caressed Horatio's chest.

"I'll show you what I mean." Horatio smiled and kissed her deeply, while he carried his wife to their bed.

_**Please review!**_


	39. Chapter 39

Jessica had brought 7 month old Sophia with her to the lab for a visit. She had had lunch with the team and the team had watched as Horatio had desperately tried to prevent Sophia from spitting her food out of her mouth. Unfortunately the team had been called to a crime scene just as their lunch break was over. Usually that meant that Jessica went home, but Horatio was going to take her out to dinner right after the shift, so he had asked her to stay in the lab. Jessica and Valera managed to have a great time while the team was at the crime scene. After an hour, Walter came back with some evidence and found the two women in the break room.

"Here is some DNA for you Valera." Walter smiled and handed Valera some evidence.

Valera excused herself and went to her lab to find a match to the DNA.

"Walter, can you look after Sophia while I go to the ladies room?" Jessica asked.

"Sure, no problem." Walter smiled.

He picked up Sophia as Jessica left and tickled the little girl. Sophia shrieked of joy and then went red in the face.

"Oh no, I know what a red face means when it comes to babies." Walter said, "And it's not that they're blushing."

Sophia giggled as Walter grimaced at the smell. He started looking through the baby bag for some diapers and found one. Now all that was left to do was to change the diaper; something Walter hadn't done before. He grabbed a blanket from the bag and put it on the table, then he gently laid Sophia down on it, much to her dismay as she started crying.

"Hush little baby please don't cry." Walter smiled and took off Sophia's pants and diaper.

He grimaced at the awful smell and then looked around at where to through the diaper. The door opened and Jesse walked in, he grinned at first and then also grimaced as he noticed the smell.

"Where do I throw the diaper?" Walter asked.

"In the trashcan of course." Jesse said.

"But that's going to cause the whole break room to smell later."

"Well, then you take the trash out after you've thrown the diaper in it." Jesse shrugged and then caressed Sophia's cheek to stop her from crying.

Walter looked at the fresh diaper and frowned.

"How do I know which is the front and which is the back?" He asked.

Jesse grabbed the diaper and looked for the words that would tell them where the front and back of the diaper was.

"Aha! Look at the teddy. The face is at the front and the teddy's back is at the back." Jesse smiled and put the diaper on Sophia.

Once she had a new diaper and her pants back on Sophia was much happier. Jessica walked in just as Walter was taking the trash out.

"Walter failed to put on a new diaper." Jesse smirked.

"Hey!" Walter exclaimed, "At least I got it off so she wouldn't walk around with a smelly, dirty diaper all day."

"Good work boys, thanks!" Jessica grinned.

When the rest of the team came back from the crime scene, Jessica went to Horatio's office so Sophia could take a nap in a more quiet place. Jessica also laid down on the couch and fell asleep in just a few seconds. An hour later, both mother and daughter were still asleep as Horatio entered his office with Calleigh behind him with a ballistic report.

"Aw, look at how cute they are." Calleigh smiled.

"Yes, they are." Horatio grinned, "They both look angry when they sleep too."

Calleigh chuckled and left her boss alone to do some paperwork. Horatio managed to get thirty minutes of paperwork done before his daughter woke up. He picked Sophia up from her stroller and held her as he just signed off on some papers. The door opened and Stetler walked in.

"Normally I wouldn't warn you about things, but since I've started to become nice I think it's good of me to tell you that Rebecca Nevins is in the lab." Stetler said, "She's here to talk about a gang murder with Jesse and Natalia, but she might just come up here to see you too."

"Not if she wants a punch to the nose from Jessica… again." Horatio smirked.

"Well, Nevins is so much in love with you that she might just sacrifice her nose again." Stetler said, "Cute baby girl by the way."

With that said Stetler left. Rebecca Nevins knew that if she said anything that didn't sit well with Jessica, she would pay for it. As the shift ended, Jessica, Sophia and Horatio were on their way out of the lab and were standing by the elevator as Nevins showed up from behind them.

"Well, aren't you a cute little family." She smirked.

"Yep." Jessica said and then ignored Nevins's glare.

Nevins stood next to Jessica and then glanced down in to the stroller. She huffed and gave Jessica another glare. The team were standing by the receptionist desk, innocently watching the foursome and hoping that Jessica would punch Nevins again.

"Are you planning to stop glaring at me soon?" Jessica asked, once she got tired of Nevins's death glare.

Nevins just huffed. Horatio sighed heavily and pressed on the elevator button again.

"Maybe it doesn't work." Jessica said.

"I hope not. It's easier to take the elevator with a stroller than taking the stairs." Horatio said.

"And if you hadn't got a baby then you wouldn't have had the stroller and this wouldn't have happened." Nevins said.

Jessica turned around and walked close to Nevins, who looked genuinely scared.

"What did you just say?" Jessica asked.

"You heard me."

"Oh I did, but why don't you repeat it to my face!" Jessica growled.

Horatio sighed, "Oh boy."

He glanced back at the team, who had their cell phones out and were ready to record what was going down.

"I said, if you and Horatio wouldn't have that little _brat_…"

Jessica punched Nevins right in the eye! Nevins yelped in surprise and fell to the floor. The team cheered and clapped their hands. Horatio held Jessica back before she got the chance to hit Nevins again.

"Jessica, remember I told you that it's better to just ignore her and her comments?" He asked.

"Yeah, but hitting her is more _fun_." Jessica smirked, "Don't ever call my child a brat again, you hear me?"

Nevins nodded and stood up. She walked towards the stairs and then glared back at Jessica and Horatio. Horatio decided to wave to her just to tease her a bit more. Nevins growled and left.

"Sweetheart, remind me to take a picture of her black eye tomorrow." Horatio chuckled.

"Oh you're so evil Horatio!" Jessica smirked, "And I love it."

There was a ding as the elevator finally made it up to their floor. Jessica and Horatio waved goodbye to their team and then left. Walter made sure to get the tape from the surveillance cameras.

Nevins turned up the next day with a black eye and told anyone who asked that she got it from messing with the wrong person. Which was absolutely true.

_**Please review!**_


	40. Chapter 40

Jessica was on a girls-weekend in Seattle with some former high-school classmates and therefore Horatio had taken the weekend off to spend with Sophia. Kyle was with some friends of his own on a boys-weekend in Tallahassee. However, the weekend didn't quite go as Horatio had expected it. On Saturday morning he got a call from his boss telling him to get his butt to the lab to work on a double homicide where one of the victims was the mayor's daughter.

Horatio had argued with his boss for over twenty minutes about the fact that he was on vacation and that his daughter needed him at home. His boss had said that he would spare two team members to take care of Sophia while Horatio did what he "was supposed to do". Enraged Horatio had called Walter and Ryan and asked them to babysit Sophia for a few hours. Horatio promised that he would only be gone for maximum three hours. The boys happily agreed to babysit Sophia. They also knew that Horatio's boss would experience a tongue-lashing for Horatio about dragging him away from his daughter.

Sophia was now 8 months old and had recently started becoming very anxious when mommy or daddy left her alone with somebody else. Even though she knew everyone on the team as family, she cried out loud when Ryan held her and daddy was about to walk out the door.

"Oh baby girl, it's okay. Daddy will be back soon." Ryan said and tried to comfort her.

"She'll calm down after a while. Bye Sophia, daddy loves you!" Horatio smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Sophia was absolutely not about to calm down! Fifteen minutes after Horatio had left she was still crying. Walter tried to entertain her with her own toys, but it wasn't working.

"Isn't there a manual on how to calm a baby down?" Ryan asked.

Both men were beginning to freak out about the fact that Sophia had yet to calm down. Walter went to the computer to see if he could find some good tips on the internet and sighed when he saw that he needed a password.

"Quick, password." He said.

"I don't know. Try Jessica."

Walter typed it in but it was wrong.

"Something else." He said.

"Kyle or Sophia.

"Nope"

"Miami?"

"No."

Ryan sighed and scratched his head. He was walking around with Sophia like he had seen Jessica do many times. When he gave her the pacifier she calmed down some and both Ryan and Walter sighed in relief.

"Do you think she might be hungry?" Walter asked.

"We could always try and see if she wants food." Ryan shrugged.

While Walter made food for all three of them. Ryan tickled Sophia and chuckled as she laughed. When the food was ready, he sat her down in her chair. Sophia was learning to grab food by herself and even though it went slow she did get some food in her mouth all by herself. Ryan also spoon fed her to help. Walter and Ryan had been warned that Sophia enjoyed dragging her plate off the table, and they had to stop her from doing that several times during the meal.

"She really a mischievous little kid." Walter smiled.

While Ryan was about to do the dishes, Walter lifted Sophia out of her chair and just when he did Sophia grabbed her plate and dragged it off the table down on the floor.

"I should have seen that coming." Walter said and put Sophia on the floor while he cleaned the mess up.

Sophia just sat and watched as Walter cleaned up the mess on the floor and Ryan did the dishes. When both men were done they went to the nursery to play with Sophia. However, Sophia thought it was more fun to throw her toys at Ryan then it was to play with them on the floor.

"Jessica and H must have their hands full with her." Ryan said.

"You should be lucky she's throwing toys at you and not food." Walter smirked.

It didn't take long before it was time for a diaper change and at the same time Sophia got tired and cranky. She did not like to change the diaper and Ryan hurried as much as he could.

"Okay, now we're done!" Ryan smiled and gave Sophia a kiss on the cheek, "Uncle Ryan and Uncle Walter are now going to put you in the bed."

Sophia giggled and didn't complain as Ryan laid her down in the crib. Both men left her alone and went to the living room. They slumped down on the couch and sighed heavily. They were about to close their eyes for a second when they heard Sophia whimper. Walter stood up and went to the nursery. Sophia had managed to pull herself up to a standing position while holding on to the crib.

"Hey little one, you're supposed to sleep." Walter smiled and laid her down again.

He waited for a second and smiled as Sophia looked around the room. Her eyes soon landed on him and she giggled.

"Sweet dreams." Walter smiled and left the room.

He just managed to sit down on the couch again when Sophia whimpered again, this time louder than before. Ryan glanced at him and this time both men went to the nursery. Once again Sophia was standing in the crib and she looked at them with the same look Horatio sometimes has.

"Should we pick her up?" Ryan asked.

Walter shrugged. The men tried to leave, but Sophia cried out softly and Ryan decided to pick her up. Once she was out of the crib, Sophia was happy and very "talkative." Ryan and Walter watched as she rolled around on the floor and stood up by supporting herself against different furniture. Every now and then she grabbed a toy and tossed it at Ryan.

**-I-**

Horatio had been at the crime scene and the lab to process evidence. Calleigh and Natalia had been called in as well and none of them were happy that their boss had called them for a case that the weekend-shift normally would take. High priority or not, they deserved to have a free weekend since it had been almost two months since they had last had it. Horatio was now waiting to talk to his boss.

"Lt. Caine you can go in now." The secretary Lucy smiled.

Horatio nodded and opened the door to his boss's office. His boss, Chief Gary Smith, knew he had acted wrong when he had called in Horatio and his team. He had given the whole team the weekend off and especially Horatio had told him that he didn't want to be called in at all since he had to take care of his child.

"Lt. Caine, I know I was wrong to call you and your team. I apologize for that." Gary sighed, "I just wanted the best people for this case."

"The weekend-team is not bad at their job. They can solve this case just as much as my team and I can." Horatio said.

"I know. I won't happen again." Gary said, "I apologize."

"Apology accepted." Horatio said, "I'm going home now because I promised Ryan and Walter I'd only be gone three hours. I'm sticking to that."

"No problem. Have a nice weekend." Gary smiled.

"You too, sir."

Horatio left and was surprised that it had gone so well. He had expected Gary to argue that he had been right to call him. The drive home was quick and when Horatio opened the front door he was met by silence.

He went to the nursery first and smiled down at his sleeping little angel. Then he followed the snores to the living room and found both Ryan and Walter asleep on the couch.

"Gentlemen." Horatio smirked.

Ryan and Walter stirred and opened their eyes. They lazily said greeted their boss and then stood up to stretch their backs.

"We had our hands full with her. She fell asleep fifteen minutes ago." Ryan said.

"We tried to put her to sleep before that, but she insisted on playing with her toys and especially throwing her toys at Ryan." Walter smiled.

"Yeah, that's typical Sophia." Horatio smiled fondly, "Thank you very much for looking after her. Even though it was your free weekend."

"Anytime H. We'll be happy to do this again." Ryan yawned.

"You sure about that?" Walter chuckled and then yawned as well.

"Absolutely! Sophia is always fun to be around." Ryan grinned, "See on Monday H."

"Yeah, bye." Horatio said and watched the younger men leave.

_**Please review!**_


	41. Chapter 41

At 9-months-old Sophia was moving around quicker than before. She couldn't walk without support just yet, but she was crawling and when she did she was fast. Sophia seemed to be a child that likes to move around and always grab things. She had already "decorated" the floor in her room with colours from her crayons and had managed to throw Kyle's iPod across the living room.

It was Monday morning and Horatio had just picked Sophia up from her crib. Jessica was still asleep and since Horatio didn't have to be at work for another hour, he figured he would let her continue to sleep while he fed their daughter. Breakfast went fine as Sophia demonstrated how good she was at sticking her hands in the food and then smear it all over her face. Horatio chuckled as his daughter giggled and smiled proudly at her father.

"You're just making your face all messy because you like getting washed, aren't you?" Horatio grinned.

Although Sophia loved to play with her food, she never had any problems eating what she was given. After breakfast Horatio took his little princess to the bathroom and washed her face. Sophia giggled and clapped her hands in the spray of water. Once she was clean, Horatio laid her down to change her diaper. It was then his cell phone rang. He sighed and fished it out of his pocket.

"Horatio." He answered.

"_Hey H, we got an assault case on an officer_." Frank greeted and then gave Horatio the address of the crime scene.

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can." Horatio said, while trying to take the diaper off with one hand.

"_What are you doing?_" Frank asked when he noticed that Horatio seemed a bit distracted.

"Changing Sophia's diaper." Horatio said.

Frank chuckled and then the two men hung up. Sophia giggled and kicked with her legs to make the diaper change more difficult for her daddy. Horatio smiled at her and put his phone on the counter next to her. The changing table was in the bathroom, right next to the toilet. While Horatio threw the dirty diaper away, Sophia grabbed the phone, put in her mouth and then held it above the toilet, where the lid happened to be opened, which usually meant Kyle had been there. Horatio missed the splash when the phone went down the toilet and became unusable.

"Here we go sweetheart." Horatio smiled and put the new diaper on Sophia and then picked her up into his arms.

"Where did the…?" Horatio asked himself and searched through his pockets.

He looked at the counter and then frowned. Sophia giggled and grabbed Horatio's hair to play with. Horatio got a feeling that his daughter had something to do with his missing phone. He sighed and gave up. He simply had to manage without it for the day. Hopefully he would find it once he came home. Horatio took Sophia to his and Jessica's bedroom and kissed Jessica to wake her up.

"Hey beautiful, I need to go to work. This little angel has already eaten." Horatio grinned.

"Okay." Jessica yawned and sat up.

She took Sophia from Horatio and then followed him to the front door.

"Bye bye daddy." She grinned and waved Sophia's hand for her.

Horatio arrived at the crime scene ten minutes later and there he was met by Frank and Ryan.

"Hey H, I called you this morning to let you know I need to leave for an hour at ten. I have a dentist appointment." Ryan said.

"Yeah, that's fine. I think Sophia misplaced my cell phone this morning. One moment it was on the counter next to her and then it was gone."

"Really? When I called I was told that you're cell phone can't be reached." Ryan frowned.

Horatio frowned, "That's strange."

"Yeah, well I'm sure you'll find it later." Ryan smiled and then winced as his tooth hurt.

"You finally going to get that tooth checked out huh?" Frank asked.

Ryan had been having tooth ache for three weeks and had avoided making an appointment with his doctor until today.

"Yeah, um, my girlfriend talked me in to it." Ryan blushed.

"It's a good thing Natalia is around, huh?" Horatio winked.

Ryan gaped at his older friends. Had they been that obvious? Ryan didn't have time to think about it more since he had a job to do.

**-I-**

"Hi Horatio, did something happen to your phone?" Jesse asked as he was processing fingerprints in the lab and Horatio had walked in.

"It's missing. Misplaced by a 9-month-old." Horatio said.

"What did she do? Take out the chip?" Jesse asked.

"No."

"You're number is unreachable." Jesse said.

Horatio frowned. How could Sophia manage that? Had he done something maybe? Maybe Sophia was innocent. But she was the only one who could have grabbed the cell phone in the morning.

Throughout the day, Horatio was told how his team had tried to call him and found out his phone was unreachable. Horatio had called Jessica with Frank's phone and asked her to search for his cell phone somewhere in the bathroom. However, the last place anyone had expected it to be in was the toilet, therefore Jessica didn't look there.

When Horatio got home in time for dinner he could see the mischievous look in Sophia's eyes. Like she was enjoying every minute of it because she had outsmarted her parents.

"Hey dad, I tried to call your…"

"I know. My phone is unreachable. I've heard it all day long." Horatio sighed.

Kyle smirked, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I was changing Sophia's diaper this morning and in two seconds it was gone. It was right on the counter next to her." Horatio said, "I don't know what she could have done with it."

Sophia giggled and clapped her hands. Jessica put the food on the table and everyone sat down to eat. It wasn't until after dinner that Horatio finally found his phone. Apparently Jessica hadn't looked in the toilet when she had searched for the phone, but she had put the lid down. Therefore the phone had remained unseen during the day. It wasn't until Horatio had to use the bathroom that he saw his phone.

"What the? He exclaimed and then he remembered.

He had put the phone on the counter closest to the toilet. He should have known that the most likely place for it to end up was _in_ the toilet! Horatio slapped himself against the forehead as he used a pincer to fish it out.

"How did she manage that?" Jessica asked, once Horatio showed her the now dried phone.

Horatio glared at Kyle and Kyle blushed.

"Ops!" He shrugged.

"You need to start putting the lid down after you use the toilet. Next time it could be _your_ cell phone that ends up in there." Horatio said.

"Our daughter is a smart girl!" Jessica chuckled.

"She owes me a new phone." Horatio joked and then gave his little girl a kiss on the cheek.

_**Please review! **_


	42. Chapter 42

Sophia was now 11 months old and her parents had started planning her birthday party. At the moment Jessica, Horatio, Sophia and Kyle were in Orlando visiting Jessica's parents and brother. Henry and Kyle had as usual gone somewhere just the two of them to try adventurous and probably crazy stuff. According to Kyle, Henry was taking him bungee-jumping in a small valley where it was possible to go bungee-jumping from three different heights. Thankfully, safety was the top-priority to the people owning the place, but it didn't keep Jessica and Horatio from worrying about him. Especially Irene and Clark worried about the boy they considered their grandson.

"Mom, he'll be fine. He's with Henry." Jessica reassured her mother for the fifth time.

"That's exactly why I worry." Irene joked.

Henry was the best person Kyle could be with while trying out adventurous stuff. Henry always put safety first, even if it didn't seem as it, and he never did anything if he didn't trust the owners of whatever it was he was trying out. Mother and daughter were making dinner in the kitchen. While Horatio, Clark and Sophia were in the backyard. Sophia was amazed by all the flowers that Irene had in her garden.

"What are your plans for Sophia's birthday party by the way?" Irene asked.

"Well, the team is coming; Alexx and Frank are bringing their children as well. You, dad and Henry will be there." Jessica said.

She and Horatio hadn't planned very much yet.

"And?" Irene asked.

"And we're having a big cake and we're going to have the party in our backyard." Jessica said, "That's all we've planned so far."

"Well, that's very good. You don't have to plan so much. Sophia is still very young."

"It's going to be like any other birthday party I guess. We hang out, we sing for Sophia and she can open her presents."

"What have you bought for her?"

"Nothing yet. Horatio and I are going to check tomorrow. You and dad don't mind watching Sophia for a while do you?"

"Of course not." Irene grinned.

Both women turned around the sound of someone slumping down on a kitchen chair. Clark smiled at his daughter and wife.

"She's going to be a very active child. I don't know if she got that from you or Horatio." Clark chuckled.

"She's keeping you buys huh?" Jessica asked.

"Oh yes, she's crawling fast and tries to pull up the plants and flowers all the time. As soon as she finds something she can grab she has to pull it up from the ground." Clark smiled.

"That sure sounds like Sophia." Jessica grinned.

Clark nodded and then grabbed a camera. He went out to the backyard again to snap some photos of his son-in-law and granddaughter. He managed to get a great photo of Sophia smearing dirt in Horatio's face. Then Horatio took some photos of Clark and Sophia together. The entire family loved to take pictures and video-tape each other. Jessica and Horatio had lost count on how many videos and photos they had of Sophia and Kyle. Or even pictures of each other.

"Dada!" Sophia exclaimed and hugged her father.

Sophia said "dada" or "mama" to almost everything since she couldn't say other words yet. Sometimes it sounded like the said Kyle, but no one could be sure if she said Kyle or just Ky. Either way, when she saw Kyle she always said some form of K-word.

"Dinner's ready boys and girl!" Irene called from the porch door.

The trio went inside just as it started raining. Sophia giggled and reached her hands out to feel the rain, but she was too late. She was already under the porch roof as the first drops fell.

"Kyle and Henry will be soaked when they get back." Irene smirked.

Dinner went fine. Sophia was trying to eat as much as she could without help from her parents, but every now and then they fed her to make sure she got enough food in her belly. After dinner, the adults just sat at the table and talked while Sophia played around on the floor. She crawled towards the couch and then walked along the edge of it. When she reached the end of the couch she sat down on the floor, crawled back to where she had begun and did it all over again.

"Mama." Sophia giggled and pointed at a photo of Jessica on the wall.

"That's right, that's mommy." Jessica grinned.

Sophia smiled and then grabbed her red hair and giggled. Then she did her "couch-routine" all over again. The front door opened and two very wet men walked in and greeted the others. Henry and Kyle were completely soaked. Sophia smiled as she saw her brother.

"Ka!" She grinned, stood up and took three steps without support towards him before falling flat on her buttocks.

"Hey! You walk without support!" Kyle grinned and scooped his little sister up.

Jessica grabbed the video-camera.

"Put her down and we'll see if she can do it again." She smiled.

Sophia was put down on the floor and looked at the adults as if they were crazy. She just sat there until she got bored. Then crawled towards Kyle, grabbed his leg and stood up. Kyle grabbed her hands and supported her while she walked, then he let go and Sophia took five steps on her own before Kyle grabbed her again before she fell.

"Good girl!" Kyle grinned, "Did you get it on tape?"

"Yep." Jessica grinned.

"Just imagine how difficult it'll be to keep up with her once she starts running." Horatio smirked.

_**Please review! Soon it's Sophia's birthday!**_


	43. Chapter 43

"Dada!" Sophia grinned and reached her arms towards her father.

"Good morning angel and happy birthday!" Horatio smiled as he picked up his daughter and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

Sophia grinned. Today was her 1-year birthday and everyone she knew as family was coming to celebrate. Horatio and Jessica had done some last-minute shopping the day before and just hoped that no one else had bought the same thing as them. Jessica and Kyle were still asleep, which weren't so strange since it was only 6:30 in the morning. Sophia was like her father; an early-bird. Horatio went to the kitchen and put Sophia in her chair while he fixed some porridge for himself and his little girl. Sophia tried to feed herself with a spoon but mostly missed her mouth, of course daddy was there to help.

"Is that porridge?" Kyle grimaced as he stood in the doorway.

"Yep." Horatio said.

Kyle shook his head. He preferred eating only one sandwich in the morning. He was also like his father that way, he never ate much or very often.

"What are you doing up so early?" Horatio asked.

Kyle smiled and gave his little sister a kiss on the cheek.

"You mean besides wishing this little kid happy birthday? I'm helping Eric, Ryan, Jesse and Walter to get Sophia's gift. The whole team and I bought it together."

Horatio almost choked on his breakfast, he had a feeling that it meant that it would be a big gift.

"What have you guys bought?" He asked.

"Something big, but very fun for a girl in Sophia's age. Actually she'll be able to use it when she gets older too." Kyle grinned, "Jesse is picking me up in ten minutes. I was expecting you and Sophia to still be asleep so I could sneak out."

"How big is this thing?" Horatio asked.  
"To big to be inside the house, but it will fit just perfectly in the backyard."

"Are you going to tell me _exactly _what it is?"

"No." Kyle smirked and tickled Sophia, who giggled.

Sophia squirmed in her chair and reached her arms to Kyle who picked her up.

"It's one big thing with small things inside." Kyle explained, "She might still be a bit too young to understand what it all is, but I guarantee you she'll love it when she gets older."

Horatio nodded and smiled. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Horatio opened it for Jesse.

"Hey H." Jesse smiled and walked inside.

When he saw Sophia he caressed her cheek and wished her happy birthday.

"Kyle won't tell me exactly what you guys have bought, he just says it's big with smaller things inside." Horatio said, "Would you tell me what it is?"

"Nope. You'll have to wait and see." Jesse grinned, enjoying the opportunity to keep Horatio wondering what the gift was all day.

"Ready to go Kyle?" Jesse asked.

Kyle nodded and put Sophia on the floor, who quickly crawled to the living room. The three men could hear her babbling as they said goodbye. When Kyle and Jesse were gone, Horatio went after his daughter and smiled as she was standing by the couch, trying to climb up in it. Horatio picked her up and father and daughter watched some TV while they waited for the hours to pass and for mommy to wake up.

**-I-**

The gift was a tent and inside the tent there were toys in different sizes and colors. It was meant to look like a circus. And it sure did. There were big and small plush toys, there was a train track that went around the whole tent, a play mat with Miami as the design and finally there was a rocking horse. The gift was from the entire team and Kyle. Henry was happy that he had bought toy cars, toy boats and small dolls for Sophia to play with on the car mat. Horatio and Jessica were very determined not to only give Sophia "girl" toys. Irene and Clark had bought clothes and books for the parents to read to Sophia. Jessica and Horatio had bought clothes, a big teddy bear that Sophia adored from the moment she saw it, they had also bought a small stroller for Sophia to use as support when she was walking.

Alexx and Irene had told Horatio and Jessica that once Sophia started kindergarten she would soon run around the house. Kids learned a lot in kindergarten, which Sophia was starting in only three days. Jessica was going back to work full-time in five days.

"The tent is water-proof too, so you don't have to worry about any leaks." Walter smiled.

The adults were having lunch on the back porch while the kids were playing with Sophia and her toys.

"It's really big." Clark chuckled, "How did you get it here?"

"We almost didn't." Eric said, "We have to drive two cars after each other since the tent was put on the roof of the cars and it was so long."

"People must have thought we were crazy. Two crime lab hummers driving down the street with a tent on the roof and the backseats stuffed with toys." Walter smiled.

"And all they saw were grown men too. Imagine how many people are sitting at home with their families telling them about the crazy dudes on the street." Jesse chuckled.

"If your neighbors had kids H, they would be so jealous right now." Frank smirked.

Horatio chuckled. The neighbors that lives closest to him and Jessica were two older couples with grandchildren that stopped by sometimes. The adults grinned as they saw Alexx's daughter trying to teach Sophia how to walk towards her. Sophia just giggled, turned the other way and crawled towards Alexx's on instead.

**-I-**

Putting Sophia to bed had probably never been so easy before. The little girl was exhausted after playing all day. During the birthday song she had looked at the adults as if they were aliens and then she had managed to throw cake right in Natalia's face. Natalia had just laughed. Now it was long passed dinner and Sophia was asleep in her crib. Jessica and Horatio stood in the doorway just watching.

"Can you believe a whole year has passed since she was brought in to this world?" Jessica whispered.

"Yeah, time goes by too fast." Horatio smiled, "She's already learning to walk without support, soon she'll run, then she'll talk with more words, she'll eat without help and soon she'll be yelling at us that we're old and crazy."

Jessica chuckled, picturing Sophia as a teenager like that.

"She might come home one day and tell us that she's moving in with a boyfriend, who I of course have to interrogate first." Horatio said.

Jessica looked at him and snorted, "You're not going to do that."

"Try to stop me if you dare." Horatio smirked.

Jessica just chuckled and then the two of them left. They found Kyle in the living room, asleep on the couch while the TV showed an old horror movie. Horatio smiled and gently shook his son.

"What?" Kyle groaned without opening his eyes.

"It's better if you sleep in your bed and not on the couch." Horatio said.

Kyle nodded, stood up and walked lazily to his room on the second floor. Horatio and Jessica went to their bedroom. They lay down on the bed and just relaxed.

"What did I do two years ago?" Jessica asked.

Horatio thought for a moment.

"You and I had just met." Horatio smiled.

"Yeah, or at least had our first date." Jessica grinned and gave him a kiss, "One year ago we were holding Sophia for the first time and what will we do next year?"

"Except celebrating Sophia's 2nd birthday?" Horatio asked, "I don't know. Await the birth of our second child, maybe we're on vacation with Kyle and Sophia somewhere. I don't know."

"I don't know either. I only know that it will be a happy day, we will have the whole family here and we will be singing for Sophia again." Jessica grinned.

"I'm looking forward to it already." Horatio said and gave his wife and mother to his daughter a deep kiss.

_**Please review! **_


	44. Chapter 44

Sophia stared wide-eyed at the other children. It was her first day in kindergarten and she was there with other kids in her age. It had been three days since she turned one. Jessica smiled as Sophia grabbed her leg and looked up at her mother with puppy-eyes. The same look her father had sometimes.

"It's okay sweetheart, these children are going to be your friends." Jessica smiled as she knelt down.

Sophia shook her head. The first day at kindergarten was going to be a short one and Jessica would be with Sophia all the time. Sophia would only spend three hours at the kindergarten and hopefully she would calm down and play with the other children.

"Everyone is a little shy at first." Melissa smiled, she was the kindergarten teacher.

Melissa bent down to Sophia's eye level and gently took her small hand in her big one.

"Hey, you don't feel like playing with the other children?" Melissa smiled.

Sophia's answer was to hide her face behind her mother's leg. Sophia and Jessica were so much alike in this situation. Jessica was usually very shy when she met new people and Irene had told her that when she first started kindergarten she had sat by the door all the time wanting to go home.

"Come on; let's see what this boy over here is playing with." Jessica smiled and went with her daughter to one of the older boys.

The boy was three-years-old and named Carlos; he smiled as he saw Jessica and Sophia.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jessica asked.

"Making a castle." Carlos smiled and pointed at the big castle of lego he had built.

"Look how big it is Sophia." Jessica said and Sophia looked between her mother and Carlos.

Carlos smiled and patted Sophia's head, which made the girl giggle. Carlos smiled bigger and patted her head again, then he ruffled her hair and Sophia squealed in delight.

Eventually Sophia stopped being shy and built two new castles with Carlos. The boy was patient when he tried to explain to Sophia where to put the pieces and she ended up putting them in the wrong place. He just smiled and moved the piece where he wanted it to be. When the castles were built, Carlos took Sophia to the other children and she soon made it known she was a stubborn child who liked being in charge. If she had grabbed a toy from the toy-box then it was hers and Sophia didn't like it when another child tried to take it from her. Eventually she would give the toy away and pick a new toy.

"Sophia, time to go home!" Jessica called and waited for her daughter to come to her.

Sophia turned to her mother from where she was sitting; smiled and waved goodbye to her. Jessica and Melissa chuckled and Jessica went to pick her up. Sophia started crying when her mother picked her up and went to the door to put her shoes on.

Jessica was going back to work full-time. It meant she worked between 9-13 everyday, with paperwork and coaching of the professional adult teams. Three times a week she had to coach her team of two teenagers later in the evening, but during the evening either Kyle or Horatio could look after Sophia. When jessica worked during the day Sophia would in kindergarten.

"We'll come back tomorrow sweetheart." Jessica smiled, but Sophia was still not happy about leaving kindergarten and her new friends. When they waved goodbye, Sophia was still crying and she only calmed down when she was put in the car. She looked at her mother and sighed.

"I can only imagine how hard it'll be to take you home tomorrow." Jessica chuckled as she drove home, "You want ice cream?"

Sophia shook her head no furiously. She was not happy right now.

"You'll see Carlos, Nelly, Amanda and Julian tomorrow sweetheart, as well as all the other kids." Jessica smiled, but Sophia was still not cheering up.

Once mother and daughter got home Sophia cheered up some and played with her toys in her room. Although she was still somewhat quiet as she played.

When daddy got home Sophia ran to him and he picked her up just as he came through the front door.

"How's my little girl doing today?" Horatio asked and kissed her on the cheek.

"She was so shy when she first stepped inside the kindergarten, but when we were leaving she started crying. She really likes it there." Jessica grinned.

Sophia reached for mommy and then hugged her. Jessica smiled. Sophia giggled and played with mommy's hair while mommy and daddy shared a kiss.

"It's a good thing she enjoys being there." Horatio smiled, "How about we order take-out for dinner?"

"Sounds like a great plan." Jessica smiled.

During dinner Sophia babbled with her parents and they smiled even though they didn't understand what she said.

The next day, Sophia was standing on Jessica's side of the bed, waiting for mommy to wake up. When Jessica finally opened her eyes, she was surprised to see her daughter smiling at her.

"She moves as quiet as you do." Jessica said as she heard Horatio wake up.

Horatio peeked over his wife and chuckled.

"She's learned how to climb out of the crib apparently." Horatio said.

"Mama." Sophia smiled.

"She's waiting for you to take her to kindergarten." Horatio grinned.

Sophia just giggled.

_**Please review!**_


	45. Chapter 45

Jessica yawned and stretched as she woke up. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand, it read 9:45. Jessica smiled as she looked over at her sleeping husband. It was Saturday and there were no plans for the weekend so far. Jessica got out of bed and went to the nursery to find Sophia on her way out of the crib. The 13-month-old little girl had been climbing out of her crib every day since she had learned how to almost a month ago.

"Sophia, you should enjoy this opportunity to get out of the crib on your own because it'll be your last. Daddy has bought a new crib with higher rails." Jessica smiled and grabbed her daughter's hand.

Sophia grinned and went with mommy to the kitchen. While Jessica made breakfast Sophia waited in her chair. Just as breakfast was done Kyle came down the stairs and dragged his feet as he walked to the table and sat down.

"Good morning Kyle." Jessica smiled.

"Yeah, good morning." Kyle mumbled as he had laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes.

Jessica chuckled and gave Kyle a glass of milk, which he always had every morning. Eventually Kyle became more alert and noticed that his father was absent.

"Where's dad?" He asked.

"Still sleeping. I figured I'd let him to that for as long as he likes." Jessica smiled.

Kyle frowned and looked at the kitchen clock. His father was usually an early-bird and would be up to eat breakfast at seven in the morning almost every day.

"He must be very tired." Kyle said.

"Yeah, well he needs the sleep." Jessica said.

It was after everyone had finished their breakfast and Sophia was dressed in casual clothes that Jessica became slightly worried about Horatio. She peeked inside their bedroom and saw that he was still asleep. She went to his side of the bed and as she sat down next to him she could feel the heat radiating off him. She placed her hand to his forehead and her eyes widened. Horatio was burning up.

"Kyle, can you get me the thermometer from the bathroom?" Jessica called out.

She heard Kyle mumble a yes and he soon walked in and gave her the thermometer.

"Dad okay?"

"He has a high fever." Jessica said and put the thermometer in Horatio's mouth.

Her eyes widened as she read what his temperature was.

"It's 104,6." She said.

"That's way too much. I'll call Alexx and ask her to come over." Kyle said and left the bedroom.

Jessica gently shook Horatio to wake him up. Horatio groaned, but didn't open his eyes. Jessica barely got any contact with him.

"Baby please wake up." Jessica pleaded, "Open your eyes, please."

Horatio did not respond. Kyle told Jessica that Alexx was on her way and while they waited for her arrival, Jessica and Kyle tried to cool Horatio down with ice packs, while also trying to wake him up. When Alexx arrived she took one look at her friend and knew it was bad. When she put her hand on Horatio's forehead she grimaced.

"We need to get him to the hospital." She said.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Jessica asked, suddenly fearing for her husband's life.

Alexx looked between Jessica and Kyle. She decided to be honest with them.

"A fever this high is _very_ bad, most likely it will rise too. I don't think it's anything fatal but the truth is he could have any sort of virus or infection right now that is causing this." Alexx said.

Jessica nodded and then helped Kyle and Alexx to get Horatio to Horatio's hummer. Horatio woke up slightly as Alexx and Kyle started pulling him up to his feet and he managed to move his feet on his own to the car. Once he was in the car he fell asleep again. Alexx drove the hummer to the hospital and when they got there, Horatio was put on a gurney and taken to a room. Jessica, Kyle, Alexx and Sophia had to wait in the waiting area.

**-I-**

The flu. That was what Horatio had. His doctor Clark Baron, who was a good friend of Alexx's, was optimistic though. He believed Horatio would recover completely in the end, but the journey to that complete recovery was what was dangerous. Horatio now had a fever of 105,3. A nurse was putting ice packs around his body to cool him down. The flue had also caused Horatio to have trouble breathing and he had an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. Jessica held her husband's hand and watched as he slept. Kyle was on the other side of the bed, holding his sleeping little sister. Alexx had gone home for a few hours, but had promised to return later in the evening.

"Dad doesn't get sick very often, but when he does he always gets _very_ sick." Kyle said quietly, "Do you think he is aware that he's sick?"

Jessica shook her head. Dr. Baron had told her that Horatio was too sick to fully understand what was going on. He might not even remember being sick once the fever went down and he became more awake.

"I'm just so shocked it happened so fast. There was no warning. Nothing that would indicate he was beginning to be a little bit sick." Jessica said.

"Yeah, it just happened overnight." Kyle sighed, "Do you think he got the virus from Ryan?"

Jessica shrugged. Ryan had been home sick with the flue for four days, but his flue was not as bad as Horatio's.

"Does the team know that dad is here?"

"Yeah, Alexx called them." Jessica said.

Horatio started to stir and opened his eyes. The nurse shone a light in to his eyes and got a reaction, but when she tried to make eye contact with him it was as if Horatio looked right through her.

"He's not so coherent yet." The nurse said, "He's too sick still."

Jessica nodded and gently squeezed Horatio's hand. He didn't squeeze back because he didn't comprehend what she had done.

**-I-**

"His fever is down to 104." Dr. Baron smiled.

Jessica smiled back and looked over at Horatio who was sleeping. He had been at the hospital for three days and yesterday his fever had risen to 106. But then quickly gone down again. Horatio wasn't good enough to go home yet and Dr. Baron wanted to keep him at the hospital for at least two more days.

"He's also more awake and he knows he's sick now." Dr. Baron said, "The only problem is that he's not willing to eat as much as he should."

"I'll keep on pushing him to eat." Jessica said.

Since he was sick, all food tasted bad for Horatio, but he ate as long as Jessica or Kyle kept an eye on him and they made sure he always ate at least half of every meal he got.

"Good." Dr. Baron smiled and then excused himself.

Sophia and Kyle were at home. Sophia had been hard to put to sleep while daddy had been sick. She had of course known that something was wrong with daddy and therefore demanded that he was the one to put her in the crib every night. Sophia wouldn't actually fall asleep until she had cried herself in to exhaustion. The door to the room opened and Kyle and Sophia entered.

"You've only been home an hour!" Jessica chuckled, "I thought I told you not to rush."

"We didn't." Kyle grinned.

Sophia reached her arms out to daddy and sighed when mommy told her that daddy was asleep and couldn't hold her. It wasn't until an hour later that Sophia was held by daddy for the first time in three days.

"Dada!" She exclaimed and hugged him.

Horatio was still weak from the virus and he didn't feel like he had any strength left. However, he was still able to hug his little girl.

"I don't want to get her sick." Horatio said.

"If it was going to happened it would have long ago." Jessica smiled and gave her husband a kiss.

"I'm sorry I scared you." Horatio said.

"It's not your fault." Jessica said, "But next time there's a flu-season you're taking a flu-shot."

Horatio just laughed.

_**Please review!**_


	46. Chapter 46

Horatio had been at the hospital for a week, which had been more than expected. His fever had risen again 48 hours after he had gotten better and it had forced Horatio to stay at the hospital longer than he wanted. Now he was finally home and even though his doctor had ordered him stay away from work for another week and rest as much as possible, Horatio was doing anything but that.

What Horatio didn't know was that Alexx was at his and Jessica's beach house on his first day back at home. Horatio peeked outside the bedroom door, thinking it was safe and started sneaking towards Sophia's room to say hi to his little girl.

"She's not going to be in there." Alexx called from the kitchen, where she was sitting with Jessica and Sophia.

Horatio stopped and sighed. He should have known he would be caught sneaking around sooner or later. He had already managed to sneak passed Jessica five times to call his team and to play with Sophia.

"Alexx, how nice to see you!" Horatio smiled as he entered the kitchen.

The two women and little girl in the kitchen all gave him the same look. It was the look that told him not to try and talk his way out of the situation.

"Horatio sweetheart, next time you want to sneak passed me you should try not to drag your feet on the floor." Alexx smirked.

Horatio hung his head. He hadn't even noticed that he was dragging his feet.

"There won't be a next time will it, Horatio?" Jessica asked.

"I promise I won't do it again." Horatio grinned playfully.

Both women laughed and shook their heads. Horatio sat down next to his wife and gave both her and his daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"So what brings you here Alexx?" He asked.

"Other than to keep an eye on you?" Alexx smiled, "Visiting my two friends and their adorable little miss sunshine."

Sophia giggled and demanded to be put down on the floor. While she walked around opening different cabinets in the kitchen; the adults talked.

"Let me check your fever." Alexx said and pulled out a thermometer from her purse.

"There is no need to do that." Horatio protested.

Alexx gave him a stern look, "Since when did you become a doctor?"

"I know my own body and I know that there is no need to check my fever." Horatio said.

"Well you _never_ want to be checked out by a doctor, unless _maybe_ if you're missing a limb, but that's just maybe." Alexx smirked and stuck the thermometer in Horatio's mouth when he was about to protest.

Horatio growled low and pulled the thermometer out when it beeped. Alexx checked it and smiled.

"102, 2. Good." She said.

"Good enough for me to spend more time out of bed?" Horatio said in a suggestive tone.

"No." Alexx said.

"Come on Alexx… I've spent more than a week in a hospital bed and now you want me to spend a week in my own bed here at home?" Horatio whined.

"Not the whole week, but until tomorrow yes." Alexx said.

"What happens tomorrow?" Horatio asked.

"Tomorrow Jessica will check your temperature again and if it's below 102 you can start spending more time out of bed." Alexx smiled, "Doctor's orders."

"You can't force me to lie in bed all day long."

"I will tie you down if I have to." Jessica warned, but then caressed her husband's cheek.

She was sure she would be pretty tired of lying in bed too if she had done it for as long as Horatio, she understood how tired of it he was.

"Alexx, maybe Horatio can at least rest on the couch, watching TV and play a _little bit_ with Sophia? If he promises to take it easy." Jessica suggested.

Alexx thought for a moment.

"Alright, I guess that's not a problem." She smiled, "But you have to take it easy?"

"I will."

"You better, your fever could still rise and no one wants to see you back at the hospital again." Alexx said and then gave her friend a warm smile, "And while you're home for a week you two can start working on baby number two."

Jessica choked on her coffee and chuckled. There was no secret that she and Horatio wanted to give Sophia a sibling, but they hadn't planned it yet.

"What?" Alexx asked innocently, "I thought you once said you wanted _four_ children Jessica?"

"I was drunk that time Alexx." Jessica said, remembering a party a few months earlier.

"Not very drunk." Horatio said.

"I do want more children, but for now Horatio and I are happy to wait." Jessica smiled and Horatio nodded in agreement.

Alexx just chuckled. An hour later, Alexx had gone home to her own family and Jessica was making dinner. Horatio was resting, like he was supposed to do, on the couch and Sophia was lying on his chest, holding on to her father tightly. Sophia had understood that daddy was sick and she had almost refused to leave his side since he had gotten home.

"Look!" Sophia exclaimed happily and pointed at the TV.

There was a show with puppies on the TV.

"Yeah, that's puppies. Maybe one day daddy will buy one for you, but don't tell mommy that." Horatio grinned.

"I heard that!" Jessica called from the kitchen.

"I know." Horatio smirked, "Don't worry Sophia; daddy will give you a puppy, a cat and a pony if you want one. Daddy has ways to make mommy agree to all of this."

Sophia just looked at her father and then smiled, probably not understanding anything he said.

"What ways are those?" Jessica asked as she had entered the living room.

"What?"

"What ways do you have to make me agree to buy her a puppy, a cat and a pony?" Jessica asked smirking.

"It's X-rated stuff, so I can't say them now." Horatio smiled and nodded towards Sophia.

Jessica laughed and went back to the kitchen to continue her cooking.

"Do you need any help?" Horatio asked after a while.

"No, remember the doctor's orders."

"Well the doctor ain't here now."

"Horatio." Jessica warned, "You may not obey the doctor, but I will and he told me to make sure you rested. I've already warned you that I will tie you down to the bed if I have to."

"Okay, I will be nice." Horatio smiled.

"No." Sophia said.

"No?"

"No." She said again and giggled.

"You don't want daddy to be nice and obey the doctor?" Horatio asked.

"No." Sophia giggled.

"Good girl!" Horatio grinned and caressed her cheek.

Jessica came back to the living room.

"She did not say that." She chuckled.

"She did!" Horatio smirked, "Should daddy obey the doctor's orders?"

"No."

"See?" Horatio grinned.

"Should daddy rest all day long?" Jessica asked.

"Yes." Sophia smiled.

"Should daddy obey mommy?" Jessica smiled.

Sophia nodded. Of course Sophia had no idea exactly what was going on, but no and yes were her choice of words.

"She switches side all the time." Horatio muttered playfully, "Once I give her a pony she will jump right back on my side."

"Then I will give her a car." Jessica smirked.

Sophia just giggled.

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	47. Chapter 47

Jessica could only remember the people screaming and getting shot the day she and Natalia had gone shopping with 15-month-old Sophia. The feeling of panic and fear of dying was something she would never forget. She would forever remember the pain when she was shot in the shoulder. Jessica would forever remember the fear of never seeing her daughter or husband again and to never see her friends and family again.

Natalia and Jessica had decided to go shopping and bring Sophia with them. Calleigh was going to come along at first, but then she had gotten sick and had to stay home. Horatio and Kyle would engage in some father and son bonding while the girls were out. No one could have expected that the day wound end with Jessica and Natalia in a hospital.

"This dress would look so cute on her." Jessica grinned as she held up a blue dress that was for Sophia.

"I agree." Natalia smiled, "Do you like it Sophia?"

Sophia shook her head and giggled. Jessica and Natalia chuckled. After Jessica had done some shopping for Sophia it was time for the two women to buy something for themselves.

"If you buy this top Horatio won't be able to take his eyes off you." Natalia grinned.

"Nat!" Jessica exclaimed, "Are you plotting to make your boss unable to control himself at the presence of his wife?"

"Always." Natalia winked.

Jessica chuckled and shook her head. Then she picked up some underwear and when she showed them to Natalia, she gasped.

"Oh my god! I want those too." Natalia exclaimed happily.

Jessica handed her the same item.

"They do look very good. But I can't by them." Jessica said.

"Why not?"

"Last time I bought something as sexy and daring as this, Horatio ripped them off me." Jessica blushed.

"He's a wild man!" Natalia laughed.

It was when the trio was on their way to eat lunch that they heard the shots and saw people running passed them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jessica asked as she heard the shots.

"It is." Natalia nodded, "Run after the other people and try to hide."

Jessica nodded and started walking quickly with the stroller away from Natalia.

"Nat? Aren't you coming?" Jessica asked as turned around.

"I'm calling the police. Go!" Natalia said and peeked around a corner.

Natalia cursed silently. She didn't have her gun with her since she was off-duty. She saw Jessica and Sophia hurry further away from her and sighed in relief, they would be more safe the further away they got. The shooter was a woman and she was holding a rifle. She was obviously agitated and shot anyone who got in her way. When Natalia realized that the woman was coming towards her she made an attempt to hide in a store, but she was too late.

Natalia screamed as the bullet shot through the right leg and she fell down on the floor. Natalia had noticed that ten other victims had been shot in different places. The woman was not a professional shooter. The woman walked passed Natalia and towards the direction that everyone had run, including Jessica.

"It's okay sweetie, mommy's here." Jessica whispered and she tried to calm down her crying daughter.

Sophia was of course very scared and upset about everything that was happening. Jessica feared for her life and the lives of Sophia and Natalia. She saw a glimpse of the shooter outside the store in which she was hiding and Jessica tried to calm Sophia down. Jessica and Sophia were hiding in a clothing store, behind a shelf and they wouldn't have been noticed by the shooter if it wasn't because the clerk screamed as she saw the woman. The woman walked right in to the store and shot at the clerk, she missed the shot. This only made the woman more angry and just as she was about to pass Jessica, she spotted the stroller. Jessica wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. She looked in to the eyes of the woman and then heard the shot. The bullet hit her in the left shoulder and Jessica was so shocked that she couldn't even scream in pain. She could only focus on Sophia and the sounds of her cries. The woman ignored Sophia and left the store. She shot five more people before she committed suicide. Of the 17 people she shot, only 6 survived.

"Natalia! Where's Jessica?" Horatio asked as he arrived at the scene just as Natalia was being loaded in to an ambulance.

"I told her to run; I don't know where she went. I'm sorry." Natalia said.  
"It's okay." Horatio said.

He surveyed the scene and ran from one ambulance to the other. He asked if anyone had seen a blonde woman and a child. Kyle and Frank were right behind Horatio all the time.

"How many victims have you found?" Frank asked a paramedic.

"16, they were lying in plain sight." The paramedic answered.

"What about people who weren't shot?" Frank asked.

"More than twenty; they're over there." The paramedic answered and pointed at a group of people.

Horatio scanned the crowd quickly and realized that Jessica was not there.

"She must still be in the mall." Horatio said and ran inside.

Frank, Kyle and several officers helped Horatio look for his wife and daughter. As they searched store after store without any sign of Jessica and Sophia, Horatio started to feel panic rise within him. Then he heard the distant cries of a child and rushed towards it. As he came closer and closer to a clothing store he saw the stroller behind a shelf and ran to it.

"Jessica, baby, can you hear me?" Horatio asked as he knelt down next to his wife.

Jessica's wound was bleeding a lot and she was unconscious. Kyle picked up Sophia and held her close.

"H, let the paramedics take care of her." Frank said and pulled Horatio away from Jessica.

Two paramedics had come after the cops and lifted Jessica on to a gurney. Horatio took Sophia from Kyle and hugged his little girl.

**-I-**

"How could they miss me?" Jessica asked quietly.

She had been at the hospital for several hours and undergone surgery for the wound.

"The stroller was barely visible behind the shelf. All the other victims were lying in plain sight." Horatio sighed, "I know that doesn't explain why they didn't check the stores."

"What about Sophia's cries then?" Jessica asked.

Jessica had been told how Horatio had found her.

"During all the commotion they didn't hear her." Horatio said.

"Where is she now?"

"With Kyle at home." Horatio said, "She's been really upset and she refuses to be with anyone besides me or Kyle. She's been asking for you."

Jessica started crying softly as she heard this. Sophia would probably not remember what had happened as she got older, but to watch your mother get shot and watch as people panicked around you was hard even for a 15-month-old.

"I thought I was going to die. I thought I would never see you, Sophia or anyone else again." Jessica sobbed, "I'm still panicked. I feel like I need to hide because something bad is going to happen."

"Oh honey, I'm sorry you feel that way." Horatio said and gave his wife a kiss.

"Will it go away?" Jessica asked.

"Yes. It will take time though." Horatio said, "I'm sorry I didn't go with you today."

"Horatio, no one could have known that this was going to happen." Jessica said, "How's Natalia?"

"She's doing fine." Horatio said and rubbed his tired eyes.

"The doctor said it would take some time for my wound to heal. Until it heals I won't be able to hold Sophia." Jessica cried, "I almost lost her today and I want nothing more than to hold her in my arms and tell her that I love her, but I can't!"

Horatio caressed Jessica's cheek softly.

"I know it's hard." He said, "But you can still hug her, you just have to remember not to use both arms."

Jessica smiled and nodded. She yawned and closed her eyes. Horatio gave her a kiss as she started to fall asleep. First he had been seriously sick from the flue and now Jessica had almost died because of a crazy woman with a rifle. Horatio knew that after this; he and Jessica would need a vacation and hopefully nothing bad would happen again.

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	48. Chapter 48

Jessica felt like such a bad mother. She couldn't pick up her own child when she was having a nightmare because of her injury. It had been a week since the shooting and Jessica had been home for three days. Three days filled with nightmares, frustration and crying. Sophia woke up every night and asked for mommy to hold her. She couldn't say what she was dreaming about, but she didn't have too. It was obvious that the shooting at the mall had caused the little girl to have nightmares. Horatio had taken her to a child therapist and she had told him to be patient and keep on telling Sophia that mommy was alright after she had a bad dream. Jessica was frustrated and sad about not being able to hug her daughter. It was heart-breaking to see Sophia reach out for her and calling her name and all Jessica could do was to get daddy instead. Sophia calmed down as soon as she was in her father's arms, but Jessica wanted to be able to hold her baby girl too.

The doctors had assured her that she could use her shoulder again after about a month. Jessica had been lucky even if it didn't seem as if. The bullet had been a trough and trough. She would be sore and would have to avoid using it. But that was it. Physically that was all it was. But mentally it was straining on her relationship with everyone around her, especially her husband. Poor Horatio had to put up with her bad mood. He never complained though. He just reassured her that the shoulder would heal and that those four weeks during which she couldn't use it would pass quicker than she thought.

"Jessica, you're not a bad mother." Horatio sighed.

Jessica glared at him. She had been sitting on the back porch for a while and Horatio was especially tired after a day at work. It was almost midnight and everyone else in the house was asleep.

"I can't pick up my own child!" Jessica snapped.

"We've talked about this Jessica. It doesn't make you a bad mother. It's not your fault."

Jessica huffed. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks and she wiped them away quickly.

"Jessica, you didn't get yourself shot so why do you blame yourself?" Horatio asked.

Jessica shrugged.

"It's not your fault that you can't use your shoulder. You're not a bad mother because you're injured." Horatio said and sat down next to his wife.

Jessica looked towards the ocean and sighed heavily.

"When I had the flu; I couldn't hold Sophia either. I had no strength in my body to do it." Horatio said, "Did you think I was a bad father because of it?"

"No." Jessica said quietly.

"This is a situation just like it. You're injured and the doctor ordered you not to use your shoulder. Does it really make you a bad mother?"

Jessica shook her head. Horatio was right. He had told her every day that she was not a bad mother. She had just refused to believe it.

"Sophia knows that mommy is hurt. She doesn't think you're evil because you can't hold her." Horatio said.

"I shouldn't have brought her with me to the mall." Jessica sobbed.

Horatio knew that it was what she was really upset about. She not only thought she was a bad mother because of her injury, she also thought she was a bad mother because she had put her child in harm's way.

"You couldn't have known. Remember that you told me that yesterday?" Horatio asked, "You told me that I shouldn't worry too much because I can never protect you from everything. No one can know that things like this is going happen."

"I guess I have to believe my own words, huh?" Jessica chuckled and wiped her tears away.

"Yes, you do. We could all die as soon as we step out of the front door. We can even die in our own homes. But that doesn't mean we should protect each other from every danger that exists." Horatio smiled and gave Jessica a kiss.

"God, I'm so silly."

"You've had a rough week. It's okay to be silly." Horatio grinned.

"I worry about Sophia."

"She will be fine."

"What if she never gets passed the shooting?"

"She will. She's already started." Horatio smiled, "Do you know what time it is?"

"Midnight?"

"Almost. Sophia has woken up every night just before midnight… except tonight."

"She could wake up in ten minutes." Jessica snorted.

"Jessica, she's starting to get over it. She sees you every day and she knows that mommy is alive and well, she might not understand why you can't pick her up. But when she has had a nightmare about what happen and she wakes up and sees your face, then she knows that her dream wasn't true." Horatio said, "Even at her age I think she realizes that her dreams are not true."

Jessica nodded and rested her head against Horatio's shoulder. Horatio rested his hand on her waist.

"We should take a vacation." Horatio suggested after a while.

"Where?"

"Key West."

"Why?"

"Just so that we can get some time for ourselves. We can relax and just enjoy the time we have together day after day." Horatio smiled.

Jessica lifted her head from his shoulder.

"Should we leave Sophia alone with Kyle so soon after the shooting? It's not that I don't trust Kyle to take care of her, but I mean her emotional well-being might not be on top right now."

"We can ask her if it's okay. If it's not then we can wait." Horatio said.

Jessica nodded and smiled.

"What should we live in?"

"A cabin close to a beach… with the neighbors far apart." Horatio grinned widely.

"Will we see anything of the surrounding area of just the bedroom?" Jessica chuckled.

"We'll see the kitchen and bathroom I guess. We can't stay in bed all day long." Horatio shrugged.

Jessica laughed and gave Horatio a deep kiss.

"I'm already looking forward to it." She smiled.

"Me too."

"Thanks for making opening my eyes Horatio. And for marrying a silly like me." Jessica said.

"No, thank _you_ for marrying an old fool like me."

"You're not old." Jessica chuckled.

"I'm glad you say that because yesterday at work an officer thought I was visiting and wanted to get my attention by calling me _Old Chap_."

Jessica burst out laughing and soon Horatio joined in.

"What did you tell him?" Jessica asked when she had stopped laughing.

"I told him I wasn't even passed my 50th birthday yet and then I just glared at him." Horatio smirked.

"Oh the famous _Lt. Caine-glare_." Jessica teased.

"The what?"

"You know the glare and the voice you do when you're angry." Jessica smiled.

Horatio looked confused and Jessica gaped at him.

"You have no idea? Honestly?" She asked in disbelief.

"Of course I do." Horatio smirked, "It's only famous because it works."

Jessica just chuckled.

_**Please review!**_


	49. Chapter 49

**AN: Inspired from an episode of House MD season 1. **

**Rated T for some minor sexual content.**

Jessica and Horatio were lying in bed panting after making love again. They had been on their vacation for three days already and only called home to ask how Sophia was doing with Kyle and Henry. The boy always replied that she was doing great, obviously loving the time she had to spend with her uncle and big brother. Sophia had both men wrapped around her finger.

A vacation had been exactly what Jessica and Horatio had needed to get their energy back and find each other again. Every couple needed some time alone every now and then.

"Can you believe how quiet it is out here?" Jessica asked.

A window was open and the only thing that could be heard was the slow wind outside.

"Exactly what we need." Horatio smiled.

Jessica nodded in agreement. She and Horatio woke up late during the days, they stayed in bed just cuddling for a long time before eating breakfast and after breakfast they cuddled some more before taking a swim in the ocean. After that they had lunch and then just stayed in the sun for a while, talking and cuddling. Horatio had fixed Jessica romantic dinners every day while she had been in the shower. Not many people knew that the tough Lt. Caine had a softer, romantic side. Horatio had the ability to treat Jessica like a lady and take care of her without making her feel like she wasn't independent or fragile.

"You never realize how much you can actually sleep until you have days when you have absolutely nothing you need to do. Then you realize how much you can sleep." Horatio said.

Jessica chuckled, "What did that spontaneous thought come from?"

"I just realized it." Horatio shrugged.

"It's true though. It's strange to sleep so much during one day."

"But it's also good. Sleeping is fun."

"Fun?" Jessica grinned, "Sleeping isn't _fun_. It's something everybody wants and needs and something you yearn for every night."

"It's fun for that reason. Everybody is happy when it's night and they can finally get some sleep." Horatio smiled.

"I still wouldn't call it _fun_."

Horatio smirked and suddenly started tickling Jessica. Jessica laughed and squirmed out of Horatio's embrace, but he managed to pin her down on the bed.

"Sleeping with me is fun isn't it?"

"It depends on how you see it." Jessica teased, "Sleeping with you as if having sex with you is fun. Sleeping with you as in lying next to you and sleep, is comfortable and makes me feel safe."

"Comfortable could be a form of fun." Horatio said.

"You're not giving up are you?"

"Not until you admit that sleeping is fun." Horatio smirked.

"I'm never admitting it." Jessica teased and got out of Horatio's grip.

She got out of bed and ran down the stone path to the beach. Horatio ran after her and didn't catch her until she was touching the ocean. He pulled back and fell on the sand with Jessica on top of him. He was about to say something when his phone rang. Horatio frowned when the ID said Kyle.

"Yes?" Horatio answered.

"Dad, what do we do if Sophia put something up her nose?" Kyle asked.

"What exactly did she put up her nose?"

"A toy. A firefighter to b exact." Kyle said.

Horatio had to fight not to laugh, but Kyle could hear that he was chuckling low.

"Dad…" Kyle whined.

"Well, use a tweezer and pull it out." Horatio said.

"Thanks dad."

"Where did she find a toy small enough for her to put in her nose?"

"I have no idea." Kyle sighed, "Thanks, bye dad."

Jessica laughed when Horatio told her what had happened. Their daughter sure had her ways to get Kyle and Henry twitchy with worry.

**-I-**

"There's going to be a lot of snot in there." Henry grimaced as he held the tweezer in his hand.

He and Kyle were ready to pull out the toy. Henry was using the tweezer and Kyle was holding Sophia's head still. Sophia just giggled.

"So?" Kyle asked.

"Maybe you should take it out."

"Snot scares you?" Kyle teased.

"No."

"Sure it does."

"Kyle, I'm can deal with baby diapers no matter if the baby did number one or two, but pulling a toy out of somebody's nose is where I draw the line." Henry explained.

He had not expected Kyle to burst out laughing and Henry rolled his eyes while Kyle tried to stop.

"I think a dirty diaper is worse than snot." Kyle chuckled, "Just do it."

"You have better eye-sight than me. You do it."

"You're not that old."

"You don't have to be over sixty to have bad eye-sight Kyle." Henry said and handed Kyle the tweezer.

Kyle shrugged and stuck the tweezer up Sophia's nose. He pulled out a small dog.

"What?" Kyle asked, "I thought you said she stuck a firefighter up her nose."

"She did."

Kyle shrugged and pulled out another toy. This time it was a small dove.

"Sophia, how many toys did you put up there?" Kyle asked.

Sophia just giggled.

"It's her secret stash of toys." Henry smirked.

Kyle pulled out another toy and this time it was a firefighter.

"I wonder where she found these." Kyle said.

"I have tons of these small little things." Henry smiled and then he realized that some of them had gone with him to Miami when he had woke up late and rushed to pack down his things. On the shelf where he had his cell phone and watch he also had small toy that there were only a few examples of in the whole world. He must have accidentally brought them with him.

Kyle just laughed when Henry explained it to him.

"Do they lose value if they've been inside a nose?" Kyle joked.

**-I-**

"Less than four days left." Jessica sighed as she and Horatio were watching TV lazily.

"Not missing home?"

"I miss Sophia and Kyle, but I love it here. We should live out here when we get old."

"I agree." Horatio smiled, "Four days is a long time though."

"It seems like it but it's not." Jessica said.

"Want me to call the Chief and ask for an extra week?"

"No, I want to go home and see the kids again. I need to get back to work and move on with my life. If I stay here too long I would be hiding from Miami. I was shot and I can't hide from it."

"I'm proud of you." Horatio smiled and kissed her neck softly.

"Thanks." Jessica grinned, "Now, how long has been since the bed was last used?"

Horatio grinned and Jessica stood up and seductively swayed her hips as she walked to the bedroom. Both of them completely forgot that Jessica hadn't taken her birth control pills for since they had arrived to Key West or that they had run out of condoms a day earlier.

_**Please review!**_


	50. Chapter 50

"Oh my god." Jessica said shocked as she looked at herself in the mirror.

It explained everything. The morning sickness, the lack of menstruation and the mood swings. She was pregnant with her and Horatio's second child. She knew it had to be from their vacation in Key West. They had made love several times, neglecting to protect themselves.

"How could we be so stupid?" She whispered to herself, but then quickly corrected herself.

They weren't stupid! A second child was what they both wanted. They had talked about giving Sophia a sibling, not now maybe, but sooner or later. It just happened sooner than they had expected.

"I heard that if you look long enough you might just be able to see another world." Kyle smirked as he watched Jessica stare at herself in the mirror.

Jessica turned her head towards him and smirked.

"You know never to mess with a pregnant woman Kyle." She smirked and walked passed him out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, well you're not… are you?"

Jessica just smiled. Kyle gaped at her and then hugged her hard.

"Really? Are you?" He asked.

"Yes. I just found out about it. I need to let a doctor confirm it, but it seems like you're going to get another sibling." Jessica grinned widely.

Kyle hugged her again and then started pacing in the living room.

"Alright, you need to tell dad and then the team. I have to tell my friends and I have to plan my budget so when the baby arrives I can buy gifts. I have to make a new budget for the amount of money to spend on Sophia too." Kyle planned.

"Kyle?"

"Hmm?"

"You do know that you don't have to be broke by the end of the month just because you want to spoil your siblings, right?"

"Yes."

Jessica smiled and nodded.

"Can I like, call everyone I know and tell them the good news? Not the team or dad, but all others?" Kyle asked.

"Of course. " Jessica smiled and watched Kyle rush to his room on the second floor.

With the new baby coming, Horatio and Jessica had to plan how to make room for it in their beach house. While she had been bored one day Jessica had searched the house for small spaces in which Horatio hid his photo albums with photos of himself as a baby. He had hid them in the closet, which was the last place she had looked, but during her search she had found a small room with stuff in it that Horatio didn't use anymore and it could be made in to a room.

Jessica now had to tell Horatio she was pregnant. She decided to do it by visiting him at work. Jessica didn't work today, but her husband did. As she got closer and closer to the lab, she also got more and more excited.

Jessica felt like screaming to the world that she and Horatio were having baby number two. Especially when she saw Calleigh and Eric coming back from their lunch. She greeted them with a huge smile.

"Okay, something is going on." Calleigh said after she had hugged her friend.

"What makes you think that?" Jessica asked.

"I'm a CSI and my gut tells me that there is something different about you." Calleigh grinned.

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about." Jessica smirked.

"She will find out even if she has to wait for days." Eric chuckled.

Jessica just laughed and took the elevator up to the lab with the couple. Once there, she walked with them to the break room which was where they had last seen Horatio before lunch.

Horatio was still in the break room eating a sandwich with Frank and Ryan. All three men looked confused at Jessica as she entered the room.

"Hi guys!" She greeted and then kissed her husband.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" Horatio smiled, "Something wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong." Jessica assured quickly, "Something is _right_."

"Why do women always speak so cryptically?" Ryan asked Frank.

"They want to confuse us men and then shock is with the truth." Frank shrugged.

Jessica chuckled and sat down next to Horatio, he looked at her even more confused at grabbed his coffee cup to take a sip.

"I'm pregnant."

Horatio choked on his coffee and then just looked at his wife. When he realized what she had said, he smiled widely and hugged her.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes, really." Jessica smiled.

Horatio and Jessica kissed, while Calleigh squealed in delight. Everybody hugged Jessica and the men patted on Horatio on the back.

"Time for mood swings and cravings again." Frank smirked at his red headed friend.

"Are you having a part without telling me?" Alexx asked from the doorway.

Behind her were Jesse, Walter and Natalia.

"Jessica's pregnant!" Calleigh exclaimed happily.

The women immidiately hugged Jessica and Horatio and talked about how happy they were for the couple. The men waited for their turn before they had the chance to congratulate them. Jessica and Horatio looked at each other and grinned.

**-I-**

Jessica and Horatio chuckled when the doctor told them the expecting date of birth for their baby. It was only one and a half month after Sophia's 2nd birthday. On Sophia's 1st birthday they had speculated whether they might be expecting baby number two on her second birthday.

"You can come back in a few weeks to know the gender and to do some more checking." The doctor smiled.

"Thanks very much." Jessica smiled as she and Horatio left the hospital hand in hand.

When they got home their 17-month-old daughter was waiting for them and she looked at them like she knew they had something to tell her.

"Mama." Sophia smiled and hugged her mother and then her father.

Kyle was in the kitchen making dinner, which was something that didn't happen very often.

"Wow, if you keep doing this during the while pregnancy I promise never to deny you anything." Horatio teased.

"Very funny. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity so enjoy it while you can." Kyle smiled, "Everything okay with the baby?"

"Yeah, everything is fine." Jessica said.

Jessica and Horatio then took Sophia to the living room to tell her good news. They had no idea how she would react. She probably didn't understand very much of what was going on and what would happen with mommy's belly. But they hoped that she wouldn't hate the idea of a little brother or sister.

"Sweetheart, in a few months you're going to have a brother or sister." Horatio smiled.

Sophia just looked at her parents and then giggled.

"I think she likes it." Jessica chuckled.

"You know what Kyle and Sophia's bond reminds me of?"

"No." Jessica smiled.

"Yours and Henry's." Horatio smiled, "And if suspicions are correct, this little buddy in here." Horatio pointed at Jessica's belly, "Will fit in like a glove on a hand."

Jessica grinned and kissed husband. Baby number two was on the way!

_**Please review!**_


	51. Chapter 51

"Alright people gather around!" Jesse said as he stood on top on the table in the break room.

He was holding a white board in his hands, where every single line represented a person who either thought the second Caine-baby was a boy or a girl.

"Alright, how many are we in here?" Jesse asked as he surveyed the crowd.

"18 people." Frank said.

All the CSI's from the day shift and the lab techs where there as well as some homicide detectives and of course Alexx's crew from the morgue.

"Alright, how many think the baby is a girl?" Jesse asked.

Everyone who thought the baby was a girl raised their hands and Jesse counted them.

"12 people." He said and drew 12 lines on the board, "And the rest vote for a boy then?"

"Yeah." Ryan said.

"Alright, 12 people think it's a girl and 6 think it's a boy, including myself." Jesse said, "How much do we all bet with?"

"30 bucks each!" Somebody said.

"40!" Alexx called out.

"20!" Ryan blushed, "I have a girlfriend and it costs money to go on dates."

Everybody chuckled and the women got to decide how much money everyone would bet with. It was decided that 15 dollars from each person was enough. Those from the team who thought the baby was a girl were Alexx, Natalia, Frank and Eric. The rest of the team thought it was a boy.

"Jesse, that table is not for standing on." Horatio said from the doorway.

Jesse jumped down and placed the board against a wall.

"Are you guys having a baby-bet?" Horatio grinned.

"Yep, so tell Kyle that once he finds out the gender to call me." Eric said.

It was nothing new that Kyle would want to know the gender, but the parents would want it to remain a surprise. Just like when Sophia had been in Jessica's belly Kyle had asked the doctor what gender the baby was. Kyle was already counting the days until it was time for another visit at the doctor for Jessica and Horatio.

Jessica was now 14 weeks pregnant and had morning sickness.

"Why are you late by the way?" Frank asked, "You're never late."

"Yeah H, it's like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be at work before you." Calleigh teased.

"Jessica was sick this morning and I was there for her." Horatio said, "And Sophia didn't want to put on her clothes."

Everyone chuckled. Those who had kids themselves remembered all the times they had put clothes on their children and in only a minute the child had torn them off.

"I think that when she gets older, she will be a very bossy sister." Natalia said.

"She'll be worse than Eric's sisters are to him." Calleigh grinned.

Eric blushed as everybody burst out laughing, remembering all the times Eric's sisters had bossed over him.

**-I-**

19-month-old Sophia was interestingly watching her big brother argue on the phone with a friend. Her big blue eyes were wide with curiosity as Kyle paced in his room. He wasn't aware that his little sister was sitting on the floor by his door and hearing everything he said. Not that Sophia understood all of it, but Kyle's choice of words weren't very pretty.

Sophia giggled when Kyle ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed.

"You thought it was funny, did you?" Kyle grinned and picked Sophia up.

Together they went down and found mommy and daddy in the kitchen making dinner. Sophia reached her arms out to daddy, who had just gotten home from work, and Horatio grabbed her.

"How's my little angel doing today?" Horatio asked and gave Sophia a kiss on the cheek, "Mommy's making chicken and rice today, yummy."

"Mommy is craving for peanut buttered strawberries." Jessica groaned.

Horatio and Kyle looked at her like she had just grown a second head.

"I'm sorry; did you just say that you crave for peanut buttered strawberries?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, I tried some yesterday at work and I have never tasted anything better." Jessica said, "I want some."

"It sounds anything but good." Horatio grimaced, "But if you want you will get it."

"Dishit!" Sophia smiled at her mommy.

"What?" Jessica asked.

"Dishit!"

The three adults glanced at each other and Sophia happily repeated the word.

"Dishit…" Horatio said thinking, "Oh, she means dip-shit."

"What?" Jessica exclaimed, "Where did she get that from?"

Kyle blushed as he realized that he had called his friend Simon that numerous times during the argument on the phone.

"Kyle, anything you want to tell us?" Horatio asked as he saw his son blush.

"Um, sorry."

"You taught her that?" Jessica asked surprised.

Kyle didn't curse very often. Jessica couldn't remember the last time he had every used a curse word, so she didn't believe he had intentionally taught her that word.

"Well, I was arguing with a friend on the phone and she was there. She heard me say it." Kyle explained.

"Oh." Jessica said, "Well, try to teach her not to say it."

Kyle nodded.

"Dishit!" Sophia exclaimed happily.

"No, it's not a nice word." Horatio said firmly, "Why don't you say… butterfly instead."

Sophia merely looked at her father and instead decided that Kyle was more fun. Kyle brought Sophia with him to the living room to teach her the word butterfly instead.

"Dishit." Sophia smiled.  
"No, butterfly."

"No."

"Butterfly is good."

"Fly."

"Yeah, that's right." Kyle smiled

In the kitchen; Jessica and Horatio chuckled as they heard Kyle tell Sophia that dipshit was a bad word.

"So what should we name this little guy or girl inside?" Jessica asked, pointing at her belly.

"Well, when we were expecting Sophia we said that if it was a boy he should be named Kevin." Horatio said, "Maybe we can stick with Kevin for a boy?"

"Yes, Kevin it is. And for a girl?" Jessica asked, "I was thinking Julia."

"Maria?" Horatio asked.

"Zoey." Kyle said from the doorway.

"Yeah, I like it." Jessica grinned, "Zoey or Kevin."

"Zoey or Kevin it is." Horatio said and gave his wife a kiss.

"Fly!" Sophia exclaimed happily.

Kyle sighed in relief as he seemed to have succeeded replacing dip-shit with the word fly.

_**Please review!**_


	52. Chapter 52

Kyle would have told his 21-month-old little sister what gender the baby was if he wasn't afraid of her letting it slip. She was after all a young child and she didn't understand the point of keeping a secret. Jessica was 22 weeks pregnant and Kyle had just gone with her and Horatio to the doctor to see his sibling and to be told what the gender was. Kyle had guessed wrong though. He had thought the baby was the opposite gender, but he was still excited about getting another sibling. He didn't care what the gender was.

Jessica's belly was quite bigger than normal, but the doctor hadn't seen any signs of there being twins in the belly. However, the twin-gene was something Horatio was carrying through his grandfather who had a twin sister.

"What _if_ it is twins?" Kyle asked excited as the family of three was on their way to pick up Sophia from kindergarten.

"It's not. The doctor couldn't see a twin." Jessica said, "It sure feels like I'm way bigger than before, but not so big that I'm actually carrying twins."

"I hope not. We don't have things for two babies. We only have one crib, one baby chair." Horatio said.

"We'll have to buy another chair. Sophia still needs hers once the baby arrives." Jessica said.

"If you gets twins all you have to do is buy a second crib." Kyle said, "And probably move to a bigger house after a few years."

"Why? You'll move out by the time the kids get old enough that they want their own rooms." Horatio smiled.

"I know." Kyle chuckled, "Poor Sophia dealing with annoying little brothers or sisters."

"Sister or brother." Jessica laughed, "Don't get hung up on this whole twins-thing. If the doctor says it's only one baby inside my belly, then there is only one."

Horatio just smiled and stroked Jessica's hand affectionately. Once they arrived at the kindergarten Sophia ran towards them and hugged her parents and brother.

"This is your little brother or sister." Jessica smiled as she showed the ultrasound picture to Sophia.

"Ooh!" Sophia exclaimed and pointed at the baby on the photo, "Sista!"

"You think so?" Horatio smiled, "Maybe it is."

"Sista." Sophia smiled.

"She's made it very clear what she wants." Kyle chuckled.

Sophia giggled and held on to the picture on the way home. She pointed at the photo and repeated "sista" to Kyle, who just smiled. As much as he wanted to be able to call the baby by the names chosen by the parents, he couldn't. If Horatio and Jessica wanted it to remain a surprise then he wouldn't spoil it for them.

When the family got home they got a surprise none of them had expected. The team was there with gifts. They had put together a baby shower.

"Surprise!" They exclaimed happily as the door opened and the family of four stepped inside.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Jessica grinned, "Aw guys, you bought all these things for our baby?"

Jessica was touched as she looked at all the gifts that their family members had bought for them.

"Of course." Alexx smiled, "We bought some more boy things though since you already have a lot of girl clothes and this may sound old-fashioned in your ears, but babies can wear hand-me-downs."

"It's true." Natalia smiled, "It's they it worked in my family. As we got older we got our own clothes of course, but as babies we inherited some clothes but also got new things."

"I guess Kyle knows the gender now?" Jesse asked.

"Absolutely. If anybody wants to know I'll be sitting on the couch." Kyle smirked and sat down.

Jessica and Horatio started opening the gifts and the baby got clothes and toys. Frank and Ryan had chosen to also prepare the parents with diapers and as Horatio opened three gifts with diapers, every laughed.

"Now you won't have to buy your own at first." Ryan blushed, "We did buy other things too."

"But this is good, when Sophia was born both Horatio and I had completely forgotten about diapers." Jessica smiled, "Kyle reminded us and then went out to buy it for us."

Everyone chuckled and as Kyle blushed a little. When the gifts were open and everyone had been thanked, Jessica and Horatio were surprised with lunch cooked by Calleigh, Natalia and Walter.

"Wow! You guys didn't have to do all of this for us." Jessica smiled.

"It's not a problem." Calleigh smiled, "A baby shower is supposed to be the time when the parents don't have to do anything and the family does it all for them."

During lunch a lot of childhood memories were shared by everyone as well as memories from when those with kids had their children. Jessica and Horatio were reminded of how fast flies by and all they had to do was to look at Sophia and see how much she had grown in such a short time.

"I can still remember the first time I held her." Horatio said later that evening when he and Jessica were lying in bed.

"Me too. It's amazing to think how much you can love another human being as much as you love your own child." Jessica smiled.

"It's amazing to see her grow every day. From a baby to an adult. Maybe one day we'll be grandparents."

Jessica smiled in agreement and gave her husband a kiss.

"It's also amazing to think that a car crash can lead to a love as strong as ours." Jessica grinned.

_**Please review!**_


	53. Chapter 53

Jessica was now 23 weeks pregnant and having a lazy day. She was lying on the couch at home, watching old episodes of America's Next Top Model, while eating popcorn. Sophia was at kindergarten, Kyle in school and Horatio at work. After a while Jessica sighed and changed the channel. She started watching a show about dogs on Animal Planet instead and the instant the saw one of the puppies her heart melted.

"I want a puppy." She said to herself.

However, she knew Horatio would never agree to get a dog. Not while they still had young children and worked full-time. Horatio had always said that a dog would be perfect when the kids had moved out of the house. A cat was out of the question since Henry was allergic and Jessica and Horatio didn't want a cat to stop him from visiting. Jessica knew she missed having an animal to keep her company during the days. As soon as her family came home she was in the mood to have a cat or a dog anymore. When Jessica got tired of watching TV, she sat out in the sun for a while and then played Monopoly with herself. She won of course. It was at lunch that she was surprised to see Horatio come home. They did have lunch quite a few times a month, but it was almost always at a diner or café. There was something different about Horatio when he came home though, Jessica could see it in her eyes.

"Why do you look so shocked honey? Did the boss force you to take the rest of the day off?" Jessica teased and she hugged her husband.

Horatio smiled and kissed her cheek and then touched her belly gently. He could feel their baby kick. Kyle was convinced it was twins though. Horatio took Jessica's hand in his and led her to the couch.

"Sweetheart, I got a very bad phone call twenty minutes ago." Horatio said, "I only got the call because Irene felt it was safer if I told you what had happened, considering that you're pregnant."

"Irene? Mom called you?" Jessica asked, becoming very worried.

"Yes. Now baby, take a deep breath for me okay." Horatio said.

Jessica took a deep breath and tried to stay as calm as possible. Horatio was still holding her hands.

"Your mom and dad were in a car accident." Horatio said.

Jessica gasped and tears instantly fell from her eyes. Horatio wiped them away and hugged her as tight as the belly would allow him. Jessica sobbed and got his shirt wet. When they parted Horatio caressed her cheek.

"How bad is it?" She asked.

"Irene has a concussion and a broken rib. Your father was taken to surgery. He's not doing very well." Horatio said, "Irene said that he turned the wheel to prevent a collision with a moose. They crashed in to a tree but weren't diving very fast."

"Oh my god." Jessica said.

"And as usual your father wasn't wearing his seat belt." Horatio sighed, "He crashed into the wheel."

Jessica started sobbing again and Horatio hugged her.

"We have to go to Orlando." Jessica said.

"I know. Let's pack some clothes and then we'll go. I'll all Kyle and ask him to take care of Sophia while we're gone."

"Maybe he wants to go with us." Jessica said.

"He probably does. But I think it's better if he stays at home with Sophia. It'll give him something to focus on other than the accident." Horatio said, "Go pack a bag while I call him."

Jessica nodded and stood up.

Less than ten minutes later they were on the road to Orlando. Kyle was shocked to hear that his adopted grandfather was in surgery and that the risk of him dying was big. Kyle agreed with his father that it was probably best for him to stay in Miami with Sophia. Kyle wasn't sure how well he would be able to handle the situation in Orlando and Sophia didn't need to see her family so upset.

"Why didn't he wear his seatbelt?" Jessica asked agitated, "Mom has told him to do it for years. She always warned him that if accidents happened he could die because of it."

"I should have worn it, but what's done is done." Horatio sighed, "After this he will have learned his lesson."

Jessica gave Horatio a small smile. They both knew that Clark might not get a second chance at life. Jessica hated to think about but she wasn't about to deny the fact that her father could die. However, she was more worried about her mother if that happened than herself. Clark was Irene's whole life besides the kids. She would be all alone in their house if he passed away. They were soul mates.

**-I-**

Irene had never been in an accident before. Never been at the hospital except for when he gave birth to her children or visited Jessica and Horatio after Sophia's birth. Irene feared for the baby inside Jessica. Everybody knew that too much stress could cause a pregnant woman to miscarry. Irene and Clark hadn't seen their daughter since she was 19 weeks pregnant. Henry had been down to see her two week later. The whole family had already planned to have dinner in a week, but it would have to be postponed.

"Mom!" Jessica called as she stepped out of the elevator and saw her mother sitting in a chair.

Irene smiled as she saw her daughter, son-in-law and saw how much bigger Jessica's belly had become.

"Mom, how are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Jessica asked.

"No, no. I'm fine. Sit down sweetheart, you shouldn't be running around serving me." Irene said.

Jessica sat down next to her mother and grabbed her hand. Horatio sat down next to Jessica after giving Irene a hug. It didn't take long before Henry showed up. Henry was quiet and stared at the wall in front of him. Horatio was the one who remained most calm. The surgery took hours and everybody besides the men fell asleep at some point. Jessica was forced to eat by her husband and mother. After six hours a doctor finally showed up. He didn't smile though and that worried everyone.

"How is he?" Jessica asked.

"Well, he's critical and the danger is not over yet. He's stable for now, but we couldn't finish the surgery and repair everything because his body can't that much right now." The doctor sighed, "He's on a respirator right now in room 45."

Jessica and Horatio thanked the doctor as Irene and Henry hurried off to room 45. They stopped in the doorway to take in the sight. Clark was covered in bandages and unconscious. His face was cut up from the glass from the car. Irene sat down next to her husband and grabbed his hand very gently. Everybody else decided to leave to give Irene and Clark some time alone.

**-I-**

Three hours after the surgery Clark went in to cardiac arrest and then his brain stopped working. Irene was now crying by her husband's bedside. The doctor had told her that the best thing for Clark was to turn the respirator off. He would never wake up. However, the choice wasn't easy. As long as Clark was on the respirator he would be somewhat "alive". His heart would beat and Irene could be with him. If she turned the machines off then he would die. She would have to bury him and never see him again. Never touch his skin.

Henry had reacted agitated to the news of his father's condition. He had taken his anger out on a wall until Horatio had taken him outside for some fresh air. In the end Henry started crying and let go. Jessica cried too. She knew what a difficult decision her mother was facing. If it was Horatio lying in the bed with only a respirator keeping him alive then Jessica would have just as much difficulty deciding what to do. After a while Jessica couldn't handle her mother's tears anymore without being with her, so she opened the door to the room and went inside.

"Mom." Jessica whispered and sat down next to her mother.

"Oh Jessica, what do I do now? The house will be so empty without him." Irene sobbed, "I've been with him for so many years. I can't kill him."

"You're not killing him mom. It was an accident." Jessica said.

"If I turn off the machines then I kill him."

"No, mom. He's already dead. It's only a machine that keeps his lungs filled with air and his heart beating."

"Without the air he will die. His brain may not work but his heart does." Irene said.

"I remember when Horatio told me about a mouse he once had." Jessica said, "He had named it Robin and he loved it. He was only 10 when he had it. Well, after six month Robin was attacked by a cat. He survived but was fatally injured. Horatio didn't take him to a vet because he didn't know where to find one and his parents weren't very fond of the mouse. Anyway, Robin passed away and Horatio sat there and watched him. As he got a little older, Horatio realized that he hadn't even tried to save Robin. But his little brother told him something he will never forget. He said; _you didn't save him but you also didn't you put him in more misery_."

"He didn't try to save him and by that cause Robin more pain by trying to repair his wounds." Irene said.

"Exactly. Robin was in pain and it was probably for the best that he went to the other side so to speak. He's not in pain anymore. So Horatio may not have saved him, but he sat with him as he passed away and he buried him in the backyard."

"This is a little different." Irene said.

"How? Robin's brain was still working. Dad's isn't. Dad doesn't function anymore. You _can't _save him mom." Jessica sighed.

"Oh Jessica."

"I'm not trying to convince you to turn off the machines. But I think that the best thing for dad is to let him move on." Jessica said and gave her mother a hug.

Irene nodded and then asked for a moment alone with her husband again. Jessica went outside and told Horatio and Henry that Irene had made up her mind. Irene then went to find a doctor. It was with a heavy heart that she watched her husband flat line. But it made her feel better to know that Clark was no longer in pain and that he could watch over her from now on.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Horatio asked as he and Jessica were leaving the hospital to spend the night at Irene and Clark's house.

"I'm okay I guess. It hasn't really sunk in yet." Jessica said, "I guess I haven't realized how difficult it'll be to not have dad around. I'm used to him always being a phone call away."

"I know the feeling sweetheart." Horatio said, remembering his little brother Raymond.

"Does it get any easier Horatio?" Jessica asked.

"Yes and no. Every day that pass makes it easier to get used to not having your loved one around, but it also makes it harder. It's hard because every day is yet another day that you can't share with the one who has died." Horatio sighed sadly.

"If our baby is a boy, we should name him after dad and Raymond." Jessica smiled.

"I would like that very much." Horatio said and gave his wife a kiss.

_**Please review! R.I.P. Clark Stanley**_


	54. Chapter 54

Jessica moaned as her husband gave her a massage. She had woken up earlier than usual from back pain. Jessica was now 30 weeks pregnant and even though it was 10 weeks left before it was time for baby number two to come out it only felt like ten days. Both parents were becoming very excited about the birth now and could barely wait. Kyle complained that it was taking too long and Sophia, well she just smiled and waited patiently.

"We should by one of those massage chairs." Jessica said.

"You think a chair would be better at this than me?" Horatio asked looking offended.

However the twinkle in his eyes told Jessica that he was just teasing her. Jessica just laughed and turned around to kiss Horatio.

"Mama! Mama! Mama!" Sophia's voice was heard as she ran towards her mother from the front door.

Sophia had been babysat by her uncle Eric and Aunt Calleigh. Jessica picked up her daughter and hugged her hard, but not too hard. Horatio gave his 23-month-old girl kisses. Eric and Calleigh watched and just smiled. Their friends were happy again.

After Clark had died it had been a tough time for the family. Irene had become depressed and Henry distant. Jessica and Horatio had been the ones to comfort Irene and make sure she ate and slept like she should. The stress had become almost too much for Jessica and when Horatio started to fear for her health and their baby's life, he sent her home to Miami. Jessica and Horatio had then only been in Orlando for a week. While Jessica was at home with Sophia and Kyle; Horatio helped Irene get back on her feet again. He made sure Irene spoke to a therapist and it helped. The problem with Henry however, was still there. Henry refused to talk about what had happened and it worried everyone. Two weeks after Clark's death Horatio came home.

Now several weeks had passed since Clark had passed away and the family of four, soon five, had gone back to their every-day life.

"She was an angel." Calleigh smiled, "Makes us want to get our own."

"Why wait?" Jessica grinned.

It was no secret that Calleigh and Eric wanted children of their own, but that they had decided to wait a year or two before trying. For now they were happy to be just the two of them.

"Mama, baby kick!" Sophia exclaimed as her brother or sister kicked her hand.

"Yeah, he did." Jessica smiled.

"So did we interrupt something?" Eric smirked.

Horatio and Jessica looked confused at him until the realized that Horatio had no shirt on and Jessica was wearing only a skirt and a bikini top.

"Yeah, a back massage." Jessica said.

"Is that what they call it now?" Calleigh winked.

Horatio blushed and Jessica rolled her eyes. The team took every opportunity they could to make their boss blush since it was a rare sight.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Jessica asked.

"We'd love to, but we've already been invited to my father's place for dinner." Calleigh smiled.

"Well, some other day then." Jessica smiled, "Oh and thanks for watching over our little rascal." "Anytime." Eric and Calleigh grinned before saying goodbye to the older couple and their beloved angel.

"Ky?" Sophia asked.

"Kyle is still asleep." Horatio smirked evilly, "I should wake him up."

"Oh no, I know that look. What are you planning now?" Jessica asked.

"What look?"

"The look you get when you're planning a prank."

"Oh well, I was thinking about throwing water on Kyle so he wakes up." Horatio smiled, "But now that I think about it, I could just throw him in the ocean."

"Horatio Caine! You are not going to wake up our son like that!" Jessica chided.

Horatio just smiled at Jessica and she looked confused at him.

"What?"

"You said _our_ son."

Jessica blushed.

"Well, I think of Kyle as if he was my own son. I know I'm not his mother, but I still consider him to be like a son to me." Jessica smiled.

Horatio hugged her for a long time. It meant a lot to him that Jessica saw Kyle in that way. Kyle had told Horatio before that Jessica was like a second mother to him, even though he would never call her "mom", she was still like a mother.

"He sees you as a second mother." Horatio smiled.

"He does?"

"Yep. I'm just extremely happy that you get along so well and actually see each other as family." Horatio said.

"Well of course. Kyle has been family since the first day I met him." Jessica grinned.

What Jessica and Horatio didn't know was that Kyle had heard every single word. He had woken up to hear his father talk about throwing water on him. Julia was well aware of the fact that Jessica and Kyle had a mother-son relationship and she supported it. It was important for Julia to know that if something happened to her, Kyle would have another mother-figure.

"Dada…"

"Yes angel?"

"Me good sista to baby." Sophia grinned widely and put her little hand on Jessica's big belly.

"Yes you will be a very good sister to the baby." Horatio smiled.

"Ky good budda, me good sista." Sophia said.

"Exactly." Jessica and Horatio said in unison.

Then suddenly Jessica wiped a few tears away from her eyes and Horatio chuckled and just looked at her.

"This is all so emotional!" Jessica blurted out, "I mean, we're so lucky to have a family like this. I'm so lucky to have all of you in this house."

Horatio gave her a napkin to blow her nose in and Jessica chuckled and sobbed on the same time. Sophia looked confused at her mother.

"Dada?" Sophia asked.

"Mommy is just a bit emotional now sweetheart, pregnancy hormones." Horatio smiled.

Kyle appeared and gave Jessica a whole box of tissues.

"Ky!" Sophia exclaimed and reached her hands out to her big brother who gladly picked her up.

"Oh Jesus, all of these happy family moments make me cry." Jessica chuckled, "I'm such an emotional wreck right now."

"You're not a wreck honey." Horatio smiled and kissed her cheek.

"You know, I'm so happy right now that I don't even care that I'm craving for tomato's soaked with peanut butter and the peanut butter is gone." Jessica laughed.

Kyle grimaced at the thought of eating tomatoes with peanut butter. Horatio just chuckled and hugged his wife as she started to get over her emotional period for the day.

"Peanut buttered tomatoes?" Kyle asked his father.

"It's actually better than it sounds."

"You've tasted it?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god." Kyle grimaced, "It sounds horrible."

"It's not. Maybe not the best food in the world either, but far from the worst." Horatio shrugged, "You should try it."

"No thank you."

"Mama sad?" Sophia asked.

"No, believe it or not, but mommy's happy." Horatio chuckled as Jessica sobbed.

Sophia looked at her father with a disbelieving look.

"Mama sad."

"Happy-sad." Kyle smiled, "Let's go play in your room kiddo."

Kyle and Sophia left and after a while Jessica calmed down.

"Okay, now I'm done." Jessica smiled, "I'm done crying and instead I'm starving."

"Why don't you stay here and I will make you a wonderful lunch." Horatio grinned.

Jessica smiled and lay down in the couch. Thanks to the massage her back wasn't aching so much anymore. As Jessica listened to the waves in the sea and her daughter's laughter from being tickled by her brother she thanked the higher powers that she had crashed in to the red headed Lt. If she hadn't Jessica was sure she would still be single without children. She couldn't have dreamed of having a better life than she now had.

_**The End! For now…**_

**AN: I'd like to thank everyone who has read and/or reviewed on this story! **_**And be on the lookout for Jessica and Horatio Part 2!**_


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